NMSA 1978, § 57-32-1 Short title
57-32-1. Short title
Sections 1 through 10 [57-32-1 to 57-32-10 NMSA 1978] of this act may be cited as the "Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act".
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 1.
Patients' Debt Collection Protection
NMSA 1978 ch. 57, art. 32
in effectNMSA 1978, § 57-32-2 Definitions
57-32-2. Definitions
As used in the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act:
A. "collection action" means any of the following:
(1) selling a person's medical debt to another party, including a medical debt collector, but not including medical debt as part of the assets and liabilities when selling a health care facility or third-party health care provider; or
(2) actions that require a legal or judicial process, including:
(a) placing a lien on a person's property;
(b) attaching or seizing a person's bank account or any other personal property;
(c) commencing a civil action against a person; or
(d) garnishing a person's wages;
B. "consumer" means a natural person;
C. "department" means the human services department [health care authority department];
D. "health care facility" means:
(1) a health facility required to be licensed by the department of health, except for:
(a) an adult day care facility;
(b) a boarding home not under the control of an institution of higher learning;
(c) a child care center; and
(d) a shelter care home; or
(2) a health facility that is an urgent care center or freestanding emergency room that is required to be licensed by the regulation and licensing department;
E. "health care services" means services for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure or relief of a physical, dental, behavioral or mental health condition, substance use disorder, illness, injury or disease, which services include procedures, products, devices or medications;
F. "household income" means income calculated by using the methods used to calculate medicaid eligibility;
G. "indigent patient" means a patient with a household income that does not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty level;
H. "medical creditor" means a person that provides health care services and to whom the consumer owes money for those services or the person that provided health care services and to whom the consumer previously owed money if the medical debt has been purchased by one or more medical debt buyers;
I. "medical debt" means a debt arising from the receipt of health care services;
J. "medical debt buyer" means a person that is engaged in the business of purchasing medical debts for collection purposes, whether that person collects the debt or hires a third party for collection or an attorney for litigation in order to collect such debt;
K. "medical debt collector" means a person that regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, medical debts originally owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another person. A medical debt buyer is considered to be a medical debt collector for all purposes of the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act;
L. "patient" means the person who received health care services or a parent or legal guardian of a minor or an adult under guardianship who received health care services;
M. "superintendent" means the superintendent of insurance; and
N. "third-party health care provider" means a licensed health care professional or an entity with revenues of at least twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) annually, when billing patients independently for health care services provided in a health care facility.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 2.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-3 Requirement to provide screening for insurance and program eligibility
57-32-3. Requirement to provide screening for insurance and program eligibility
A. In addition to any other actions required by applicable state or federal law or local government ordinance, health care facilities shall take the following steps before seeking payment for emergency or medically necessary care:
(1) offer to and, if requested, verify whether a patient has any health insurance;
(2) if the patient is uninsured, offer information about, offer to screen the patient for and, if requested, screen the patient for:
(a) all available public insurance;
(b) any other public programs that may assist with health care costs; and
(c) any financial assistance offered by the health care facility;
(3) offer to and, if requested, provide assistance with the application process for programs identified during the screening; and
(4) if a third-party health care provider will bill the patient, send the information gathered during the steps required pursuant to this subsection to the third-party health care provider.
B. In addition to any other actions required by applicable state or federal law or local government ordinance, a third-party health care provider shall not seek payment for emergency or medically necessary care until the third-party health care provider receives the information required pursuant to Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section.
C. The superintendent shall promulgate rules to establish minimum standards governing the requirements of this section and shall provide health care facilities and third-party health care providers with guidance on billing and screening best practices, based on health care facility type and size, that includes policies to prevent the disclosure of patients' personal information to third parties.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-4 Indigent patients; patients' debt collection protections
57-32-4. Indigent patients; patients' debt collection protections
A. For patients who are determined to be indigent patients, charges for health care services and medical debt shall not be pursued through collection actions. All collection actions through which charges for health care services and medical debt are pursued shall be terminated upon the determination that a patient is an indigent patient. Health care facilities, third-party health care providers and medical creditors shall not hire or otherwise engage third parties to perform collection actions against or otherwise recover debts from indigent patients.
B. The superintendent shall promulgate rules to establish the process by which a patient is determined to be an indigent patient for purposes of this section. The rules shall take into account both permanent and temporary sources of income.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 4.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-5 Department guidance on funding sources, billing and screening
57-32-5. Department guidance on funding sources, billing and screening
The department shall provide health care facilities and third-party health care providers with guidance on accessing available sources of funding for care that maximizes the use of funds in the following order of priority:
A. federal funds;
B. state funds; and
C. other available funds.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 5.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-6 Billing information
57-32-6. Billing information
A. All bills sent from a health care facility, third-party health care provider or medical creditor to a patient shall include a complete and plain-language description of the date, amount and nature of all charges; if the patient is verified as having health insurance; if the health care facility screened the patient for programs that assist with health care costs; and if the health care facility or third-party health care provider has billed or will bill insurance or public programs that may assist with health care costs for the services provided. Prior to initiating communication with a consumer or a collection action over medical debt, a medical debt collector shall have all billing information required in this subsection as allowed under the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
B. In communications with a consumer about medical debt, including communication related to collection actions, a health care facility, third-party health care provider, medical creditor or medical debt collector shall inform the consumer of the availability of the information required pursuant to Subsection A of this section and offer to provide that information to the consumer; provided that the information required pursuant to this section need only be provided to a requester once every thirty days.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 6.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-7 Receipts for payments
57-32-7. Receipts for payments
A. Within thirty business days of receipt of a payment on a medical debt, the health care facility, third-party health care provider, medical creditor, medical debt collector or their agents receiving the payment shall send a receipt to the person who made the payment. The receipt may take the form of a billing statement. All receipts shall show:
(1) the amount paid;
(2) the date payment was received;
(3) the new balance after application of the payment;
(4) the interest rate and interest accrued since the consumer's last payment;
(5) the consumer's account number;
(6) the name of the current owner of the debt and, if different, the name of the medical creditor; and
(7) whether the payment is accepted as payment in full of the debt.
B. All health care facilities, third-party health care providers, medical creditors and medical debt collectors shall apply payments as of the date payment was received or, if received after business hours, the next business day, and use that date when assessing penalties or interest accumulation.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 7.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-8 Indigent care reporting requirements
57-32-8. Indigent care reporting requirements
A. Health care facilities and third-party health care providers shall annually report to the department how the following funds are used:
(1) indigent care funds and safety net care pool funds pursuant to the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act [Chapter 27, Article 5 NMSA 1978]; and
(2) funds raised to pay the cost of operating and maintaining county hospitals, pay contracting hospitals in accordance with health care facilities contracts or pay a county's transfer to the county-supported medicaid fund pursuant to the Hospital Funding Act [Chapter 4, Article 48B NMSA 1978].
B. A health care facility's or third-party health care provider's report to the department shall include:
(1) the number of indigent patients whose health care costs were paid directly from the funds described in Subsection A of this section and the total amount of funds expended for these health care costs; and
(2) as applicable, the health care facility's estimated annual amount and percentage of the health care facility's bad debt expense attributable to patients eligible under the health care facility's financial assistance policy and an explanation of the methodology used by the health care facility to estimate this amount and percentage.
C. A health care facility's or third-party health care provider's report shall be available to the public via a link from the homepage of the health care facility's or third-party health care provider's website.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 8.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-9 Waiver of rights
57-32-9. Waiver of rights
A. A consumer shall not be required to exhaust any administrative remedies provided by the provisions of the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act or other applicable law before seeking legal or equitable relief.
B. A financial assistance policy or agreement between a patient and a health care facility, third-party health care provider, medical creditor or medical debt collector shall not contain any provision that, prior to a dispute arising, waives or has the practical effect of waiving the rights of a patient to resolve that dispute by obtaining:
(1) injunctive, declaratory or other equitable relief;
(2) multiple or minimum damages as specified by statute;
(3) attorney fees and costs as specified by statute or as available at common law; or
(4) a hearing at which that party can present evidence in person.
C. A provision in a financial assistance policy or other written agreement that violates the provisions of Subsection B of this section is void and unenforceable. A court may refuse to enforce other provisions of the financial assistance policy or other written agreement as equity may require.
D. A waiver by a patient or other consumer of any protection provided by or any right of the patient or other consumer pursuant to the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act is void and shall not be enforced by any court or any other person.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 9.
NMSA 1978, § 57-32-10 Enforcement
57-32-10. Enforcement
A. The attorney general shall enforce the provisions of the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act and shall adopt rules in accordance with that act to provide for the protection of patients and their families and to assist market participants in interpreting that act.
B. The attorney general shall establish a complaint process whereby an aggrieved patient or a member of the public may file a complaint against a health care facility, third-party health care provider, medical creditor or medical debt collector that violates a provision of the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act. All complaints shall be considered public records pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act [Chapter 14, Article 2 NMSA 1978], with the exception of the complainant's name, address or protected personal identifier information defined in the Inspection of Public Records Act.
Laws 2021, ch. 31, § 10.
Source: New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com)URL: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18560/index.doFetched: 10/20/2026