Text of the Bill

Senate Bill TBD

By: Senators Walker III of the 20th

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

THE GEORGIA CONSUMER RELIEF ACT

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

 

SECTION 1.

This chapter acknowledges that medical debt may be burdensome to individuals regardless of their socioeconomic status and that medical debts may be unexpected. It is the intent of the General Assembly that medical debt should not be used when making decisions regarding an individual’s credit, employment, or housing.  The purpose of this chapter is to reduce burdensome medical debt and to protect patients in their dealings with medical creditors, medical debt buyers, and medical debt collectors with respect to such debt. This chapter is to be construed as a consumer protection statute and must be liberally and remedially construed to effectuate its purposes.

 

Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter:

“Extraordinary collection action” means any of the following:

a. Selling an individual’s debt to another party, except if, prior to the sale, the medical creditor has entered into a legally binding written agreement with the medical debt buyer of the debt under which all of the following apply:

1. The medical debt buyer or collector is prohibited from engaging in any extraordinary collection actions to obtain payment for the care.

2. The medical debt buyer is prohibited from charging interest on the debt.

3. The debt is returnable to or recallable by the medical creditor upon a determination by the medical creditor or medical debt buyer that the individual is eligible for financial assistance.

4. The medical debt buyer is required to adhere to procedures which must be specified in the agreement that ensure that the individual does not pay, and has no obligation to pay, the medical debt buyer and the medical creditor together more than they are personally responsible for paying in compliance with this chapter.

5. The medical debt buyer is prohibited from communicating with, or reporting, any medical debt information to any consumer reporting agency regarding a consumer’s medical debt.

6. Medical creditor. "Medical creditor" means an entity that provides health care services and to whom a consumer incurs medical debt or an entity that provided health care services to a consumer and to whom the consumer previously owed medical debt if the medical debt has been purchased by one or more debt buyers.

“Medical debt” means the following:

a. Debt owed by a consumer that is both of the following:

1. Owed to a person whose primary business is providing health-care services.

2. For the provision of medical services, products, or devices.

b. Medical debt includes medical bills that are not past due or have already been paid.

c. Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card unless the credit card is issued under an open-end or closed-end credit plan offered specifically for the payment of health-care services.

“Medical debt buyer” means an individual or entity that is engaged in the business of purchasing medical debts for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt itself or hires a third party for collection or an attorney for litigation in order to collect such debt.

“Medical debt collector” means any person that regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, medical debts originally owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another. A medical debt buyer is a medical debt collector. Medical debt collector does not include the Division of Child Support Services or an individual filing a child support action under Title 13. Medical debt collector does not include anyone collecting debt charged to a credit card.

 

Reporting of medical debt on a consumer report. Notwithstanding any provision of federal law, a consumer reporting agency shall comply with the following provisions with respect to the reporting of medical debt on a consumer report.

 

A consumer reporting agency may not report medical debt on a consumer's consumer report and a medical creditor, debt collector or debt buyer may not report a consumer's medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.

 

To amend Article 4 of Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to fraud and related practices, so as to authorize for-profit credit repair services; to revise the definition of "credit repair services organization"; to provide for related matters;

to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

 

SECTION 2

Article 4 of Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to fraud

and related practices, is amended in Code Section 16-9-59, relating to operation of credit

repair services organization, by adding a new subparagraph to read as follows: "(C) 'Credit repair services organization' also does not include any credit repair services organization, as defined by 15 U.S.C. Section 1679a, that complies with the following consumer protections:

(i)  Obtains a bond in the amount of $25,000 which shall remain in place for at least one year after the credit repair services organization has ceased all activities in this state and which shall be used to cover administrative fines or civil damages suffered by any buyer or through any enforcement action; and

(ii)  Provides:

(I)  A written contract to the buyer setting out the services such credit repair services organization provides and the amount that will be due each month for such services; (II)  An information statement informing the buyer of the buyer's right to challenge and dispute items on a credit report on the buyer's own; stating that the credit repair services organization will only challenge or dispute items that the buyer affirms are either unfair, inaccurate, or unsubstantiated; and informing the buyer of the right to proceed against the bond along with the name and address of the bond surety; and (III)  A notice of cancellation that informs the buyer of the right to rescind the agreement within five business days after entering into the contract and the right to cancel services at any time, along with a preprinted form containing the mailing address of the credit repair services organization. "

 

SECTION 3.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

 

SECTION 4.

This act takes effect 90 days following its enactment into law.