bill bars medical debt from credit reports

The text as introduced · 506 words

By: Talarico
H.B. No. 2478

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the reporting of certain information regarding

medically necessary debt on a consumer report.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 20.05, Business & Commerce Code, is

amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a consumer

reporting agency may not furnish a consumer report containing

information related to:

(1) a case under Title 11 of the United States Code or

under the federal Bankruptcy Act in which the date of entry of the

order for relief or the date of adjudication predates the consumer

report by more than 10 years;

(2) a suit or judgment in which the date of entry

predates the consumer report by more than seven years or the

governing statute of limitations, whichever is longer;

(3) a tax lien in which the date of payment predates

the consumer report by more than seven years;

(4) a record of arrest, indictment, or conviction of a

crime in which the date of disposition, release, or parole predates

the consumer report by more than seven years;

(5) a collection account with a medical industry code,

if the consumer was covered by a health benefit plan at the time of

the event giving rise to the collection and the collection is for an

outstanding balance, after copayments, deductibles, and

coinsurance, owed to an emergency care provider or a facility-based

provider for an out-of-network benefit claim; [ or ]

(6) medically necessary debt, regardless of the date

on which the medical debt was incurred; or

(7) another item or event that predates the consumer

report by more than seven years.

(d) In this section:

(1) "Emergency care provider" means a physician,

health care practitioner, facility, or other health care provider

who provides emergency care.

(2) "Facility" has the meaning assigned by Section

324.001, Health and Safety Code.

(3) "Facility-based provider" means a physician,

health care practitioner, or other health care provider who

provides health care or medical services to patients of a facility.

(4) "Health care practitioner" means an individual who

is licensed to provide health care services.

(5) "Medically necessary debt" means a debt or alleged

debt arising from the receipt of health care services provided to:

(A) diagnose or treat an illness, injury,

condition, or disease or the symptoms of an illness, injury,

condition, or disease that meet accepted standards of medicine; or

(B) prevent illness or detect illness at an early

stage, including preventative screening services, vaccines, and

tests.

SECTION 2. Section 20.05(a), Business & Commerce Code, as

amended by this Act, applies only to a consumer report furnished on

or after the effective date of this Act. A consumer report

furnished before the effective date of this Act is governed by the

law in effect on the date the report was furnished, and the former

law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.