Patient Medical Debt Protection Act (S.6757-A)

• Requires hospitals to provide consolidated itemized bills within seven days of discharge detailing all charges in plain language with specific services, dates, unit prices, and payment status for each item.

• Prohibits hospitals from billing patients facility fees for preventive care services or when facility fees are not covered by third-party payers.

• Mandates use of standardized patient financial liability forms disclosing in-network/out-of-network status, coverage by third-party payers, and projected patient financial responsibility.

• Revises hospital financial assistance policies to require use of uniform forms, extends application windows to 240 days post-discharge, reduces maximum monthly installment payments from 10% to 5% of gross income, and caps interest rates at the federal funds rate.

• Reduces interest rates on medical debt actions from 9% annually to the one-year U.S. Treasury bill rate and expands "surprise bill" protections to include situations where patients reasonably relied on provider or plan representations about in-network status.