NM HB244

Requires hospitals to publish standard charges for all items and services on their public websites in machine-readable format, plus either a consumer-friendly list of at least 300 shoppable services or an internet-based price estimator tool

Prohibits hospitals from pursuing debt collection actions against patients for services provided during periods of noncompliance with the transparency requirements

Provides patients an affirmative defense against collection actions if the hospital was not in compliance when services were provided, requiring courts to dismiss such cases with prejudice and order refunds of payments made

Requires hospitals to provide patients with itemized billing statements including billing codes, payment receipts, language assistance information, and hospital contact information before commencing collection actions

Designates violations of the Hospital Price Transparency Act as unfair or deceptive trade practices under the Unfair Practices Act, and authorizes the Health Care Authority to audit hospital websites and accept noncompliance complaints