Information on DC's medical debt bill March 31, 2026
Written by MSDC staff
The Committee on Health will mark up B26-438, the Medical Debt Mitigation Amendment Act of 2025, on April 7. The intent of the bill is to prevent patients from going into (further) debt when receiving medical care.
The most important thing to note is the bill applies very differently if your practice is regulated as a healthcare facility by DC Health. This distinction was key, as a reminder, during the certificate of need reforms MSDC led two years ago.
If your practice is not a hospital or ambulatory surgical center, the new bill would prohibit your practice from calling in debt collectors on patients or running a debt collection-type business to secure payment from patients.
If your practice falls under the healthcare facility definition, there are a number of changes coming if the bill remains unamended:
- The facility would be required to report annually to DC Health the type and amount of financial assistance programs offered to patients.
- Each patient will have access to a financial assistance policy created by the healthcare facility.
- Payment should not be collected until a patient applies for financial assistance and it is accepted.
- The facility has the responsibility to determine a patient's need for financial assistance if they request it by using proof of income documents.
- Patients with household incomes of 200% or less of the federal poverty level can receive free care, and discounted care for patients with within 500% of the federal poverty level on a sliding scale.
- Just as above, the facility may not call debt collectors for unpaid bills.