More states are imposing new limits on hospital billing practices, making fresh attempts to help patients avoid heavy medical debts.
At least 10 states, including Connecticut, Maryland, New Mexico and Maine, enacted laws last year with a range of provisions affecting healthcare providers and collection agencies, including requirements for hospitals to provide financial assistance to people with low incomes or limit aggressive debt-collection practices.
Other states, including Washington and Vermont, are currently considering bills to add or bolster consumer medical-billing protections.The activity is a sign of the heightened scrutiny that hospitals are facing after reports about bare-knuckle tactics used to collect on medical debts and after some facilities' own disclosures of high prices and limited financial assistance for certain patients.
