FL H7089

Establishes a 3-year statute of limitations for collecting medical debt from facilities licensed under chapter 395, running from the date the debt is referred to a third party for collection, and exempts up to $10,000 in a debtor's motor vehicle and $10,000 in personal property from legal process for such medical debts.

Requires licensed health care facilities to post consumer-friendly standard charges for at least 300 shoppable services on their websites, provide good faith cost estimates to patients and their insurers within specified timeframes before nonemergency services, and establish internal grievance processes for patients to dispute charges, with daily fines of $1,000 (up to $10,000 per estimate) for noncompliance.

Prohibits licensed facilities from taking extraordinary collection actions—including selling debt, reporting to credit bureaus, placing liens, garnishing wages, or filing lawsuits—before determining financial assistance eligibility, providing an itemized bill, billing applicable insurers, and giving 30 days' written notice, or while a patient is in good-faith negotiations or complying with a payment plan.

Requires health insurers to provide insured individuals with an advanced explanation of benefits within 1 to 3 business days of receiving a facility's cost estimate, and classifies shared savings incentives offered by health insurers and HMOs as medical expenses rather than administrative expenses for rate development and filing purposes.

Overhauls oversight of community-based care lead agencies under the Department of Children and Families by strengthening conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements and penalties (up to $30,000 per offense), prohibiting related-party contracts for management-level staffing, capping administrative employee salaries at 150% of the DCF secretary's salary, repealing the existing fund allocation statute and replacing it with a new actuarially sound funding methodology to be developed by December 1, 2024, and establishing the Future of Child Protection Contracting and Funding Workgroup to report by October 15, 2025.