On June 2, 2021, Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak signed SB #248 into law. The new law, which goes into effect in less than one month on July 1, 2021, imposes significant new requirements and restrictions on collecting medical debt in Nevada.
The law applies to all debt for goods and services provided by medical facilities. The definitions of “medical debt” and “medical facility” are expansive. The only specific exemption from the definition of medical debt are open-end or closed-end extensions of credit made by a financial institution to a borrower, which the borrower can use at their discretion for purposes other than the purchase of goods or services provided by a healthcare facility.
60-day notification period
The law specifies that not less than 60 days before taking any action to collect a medical debt, a collection agency must send the medical debtor by registered or certified mail written notification that includes:
- The name of the facility;
- The date on which goods and services were provided;
- The principal amount of the debt;
- The name of the collection agency; and
- Information regarding whether the medical debt was assigned to the collection agency for collection; or that the collection agency has otherwise obtained the medical debt for collection.
Notably, the law also specifies that if a debtor initiates contact with a collection agency during the 60-day notification period, the collection agency cannot consider the contact to be a waiver of the collections hold; the prohibition on collection remains intact. To read more click here.