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Lawmakers in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington are looking to add protections for patients with unpaid medical debt by prohibiting wage garnishment for bill collection, according to MedPage Today. Proponents are concerned that some garnishment might occur for incorrect billing or that siphoning away a worker’s wages could leave low-income families without the money they need for heat, food, or housing. However, providers have concerns about accumulating bad debt that could increase financial risk, especially for rural providers, if there aren’t enough options for them to recoup what they’re owed by patients. In the report, an Association of Credit and Collection Professionals board member in Washington noted that she is aware of “clinic closures, urgent care centers shutting down, staffing shortages, and rural facilities struggling to stay open.”
Making it work: What can be challenging in the implementation of these regulations is that debt can be impossible to identify categorically for bespoke medical-debt protections. The best way for urgent care to ensure patient responsibility is collected efficiently is to maintain a credit card on file. Read more from the JUCM archive: Credit Card on File Speeds Collections, Decreases Bad Debt