On June 7, 2021, HBMA wrote to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to express concerns with the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improve Act (H.R. 2547).
The letter notes that “while we support the intent of this bill, we believe there are better ways to protect patients from medical debt. We support the concepts of transparency and providing patients with reasonable opportunities to pay medical bills. However, Congress must strike a better balance between protecting patients from overaggressive debt collection practices and preventing revenue cycle disruptions for physician practices. Additionally, this bill does not address unaffordable deductibles that commonly cause medical debt.”