56:11-59 Collection actions, medical debt, limits.

442 words·~2 min read·/nj/title-56/chapter-11/56-11-59

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4. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary, except as otherwise provided in subsection c. of this section, a medical creditor or medical debt collector shall not engage in any collection actions until 120 days after the first bill for a medical debt has been sent and the creditor or debt collector has offered the patient who owes the medical debt a reasonable payment plan.

b. At least 30 days before taking any collection actions, a medical creditor or medical debt collector shall provide to the patient at least one additional bill and a notice containing the following:

(1)identifying the collection actions that will be initiated in order to obtain payment; and

(2)providing a deadline after which such collection actions will be initiated, which date is no earlier than 30 days after the date of the notice.

c. Any communication made by a medical creditor or medical debt collector to a patient in the course of trying to collect a medical debt shall include a statement, in at least 14-point boldface font, that the medical creditor or medical debt collector has not reported the debt to a consumer reporting agency and that if the debt, or any part of it, has been reported to a consumer reporting agency, the portion reported is void.

d. A medical creditor shall not sell a patient's debt to another party unless, prior to the sale, the medical creditor has entered into a legally binding written agreement with the medical debt buyer of the debt pursuant to which the medical debt buyer or collector is prohibited from engaging in any actions in paragraphs

(2)and

(3)of the definition of "collection action" in section 2 of P.L.2024, c.48 (C.56:11-57) and from otherwise seeking to obtain payment for the health care service.

(1)A medical creditor or medical debt collector shall not engage in any collection actions against a patient who accepts and complies with the terms of a reasonable payment plan offered by the medical creditor or medical debt collector pursuant to this section. A medical creditor or medical debt collector shall not charge an interest rate of more than three percent per annum on late payments to a medical debt subject to a reasonable payment plan and shall provide a grace period of at least 60 days for late payments.

(2)Acceptance of a reasonable payment plan pursuant to this section by a patient shall not constitute an admission that the debt is valid. A patient who accepts a reasonable payment plan shall retain any legal defenses that would otherwise be available in a collection action.

L.2024, c.48, s.4.