Section 197.1040

Title XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Chapter 197

Effective - 28 Aug 2026, see footnote   

  197.1040.  Definitions. — For purposes of this section and section 197.1045, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms mean:

  (1)  "Collection action", any of the following actions taken with respect to a debt for items and services that were purchased from or provided to a patient by a hospital on a date during which the hospital was not in material compliance with hospital price transparency laws:

  (a)  Attempting to collect a debt from a patient or patient guarantor by referring the debt, directly or indirectly, to a debt collector, a collection agency, or other third party retained by or on behalf of the hospital;

  (b)  Suing the patient or patient guarantor or enforcing an arbitration or mediation clause in any hospital documents, including contracts, agreements, statements, or bills; or

  (c)  Directly or indirectly causing a report to be made to a consumer reporting agency;

  (2)  "Collection agency":

  (a)  Any:

  a.  Person who engages in a business, the principal purpose of which is the collection of debts; or

  b.  Person who:

  (i)  Regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another;

  (ii)  Takes assignment of debts for collection purposes;

  (iii)  Directly or indirectly solicits for collection debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another; or

  (iv)  Collects debts for the office of administration;

  (b)  Does not include:

  a.  Any officer or employee of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor, collecting debts for such creditor;

  b.  Any person while acting as a collection agency for another person, both of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the person acting as a collection agency does so only for creditors to whom it is so related or affiliated and if the principal business of the person is not the collection of debts;

  c.  Any officer or employee of the United States or any state to the extent that collecting or attempting to collect any debt is in the performance of the officer's or employee's official duties;

  d.  Any person while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt;

  e.  Any person collecting or attempting to collect any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another to the extent that:

  (i)  The activity is incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow arrangement;

  (ii)  The activity concerns a debt that was extended by the person;

  (iii)  The activity concerns a debt that was not in default at the time it was obtained by the person; or

  (iv)  The activity concerns a debt obtained by the person as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction involving the creditor; or

  f.  Any person whose principal business is the making of loans or the servicing of debt not in default and who acts as a loan correspondent, seller, and servicer for the owner, or holder of a debt that is secured by a deed of trust on real property, regardless of whether the debt is also secured by an interest in personal property;

  (c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of this subdivision to the contrary, the term collection agency includes any person who, in the process of collecting the person's own debts, uses another name that would indicate that a third person is collecting or attempting to collect such debts;

  (3)  "Consumer reporting agency", any person who, for monetary fees or dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages, in whole or in part, in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.  The term consumer reporting agency includes any person defined in 15 U.S.C. Section 1681a(f) and any consumer credit reporting agency defined in section 407.1380.  The term consumer reporting agency does not include any business entity that provides only check verification or check guarantee services;

  (4)  "Debt", any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay moneys arising out of a transaction, regardless of whether the obligation has been reduced to judgment.  The term debt does not include a debt for business, investment, commercial, or agricultural purposes or a debt incurred by a business;

  (5)  "Debt collector", any person employed or engaged by a collection agency to perform the collection of debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another;

  (6)  "Hospital", a hospital:

  (a)  Licensed under this chapter; or

  (b)  Approved by the department of health and senior services as meeting the standards established for licensing a hospital in this state;

  (7)  "Hospital price transparency laws", Section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and rules adopted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services implementing Section 2718(e);

  (8)  "Items and services" or "items or services", items and services as defined in 45 CFR 180.20.

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(L. 2026 H.B. 2372)