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HB1271 • 2026

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning insurance.

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning insurance.

Healthcare
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Representative Julie McGuire
Last action
2026-03-04
Official status
Enrolled House Bill (H)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The exact time limits for insurers and health maintenance organizations are not specified in the provided official source material.

Health Insurance Claim Payment Rules

This law changes how hospitals and insurance companies handle payment assistance programs and medical claims in Indiana.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires hospitals to inform patients about payment help programs, put up signs with this information, and make it available online through the hospital's patient portal.
  • Hospitals must try to notify people about these programs before taking legal action for unpaid bills.
  • Insurance companies cannot lower the amount they pay for medical services after a claim is made.
  • Automated systems used by insurance providers to submit health claims must be reviewed by a person involved in developing the claim.
  • Sets time limits on how long insurers can ask for repayment of overpaid claims or adjust paid claims.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Hospitals and patients in Indiana
  • Insurance companies that provide accident and sickness insurance in Indiana

Terms To Know

Payment assistance programs
Programs that help people pay for medical bills.
Downcoding
Changing a more expensive medical code to a less expensive one when submitting claims.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify the exact time limits for insurers and health maintenance organizations.
  • It is unclear how strictly hospitals will be required to notify patients about payment assistance programs.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB1271.03.ENGH.AMS05

Committee Engrossed House Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Filed

Plain English: The amendment changes how insurance companies handle certain types of claims in Indiana.

  • Modifies the rules for when and how insurance companies must pay out claims.
  • The exact details about which types of claims are affected and how they will be handled differently are not clear from the provided text.
HB1271.04.COMS.AMS09

Committee House Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Filed

Plain English: This amendment changes how insurance companies handle certain types of claims in Indiana.

  • Adds new rules for insurance companies to follow when they pay out claims.
  • The exact details and requirements added by the amendment are not clear from the provided text, so more information is needed to explain fully.
HB1271.04.COMS.AMS07

Committee House Bill (S) • Representative Julie McGuire

Filed

Plain English: This amendment adds a new section to the Indiana Code that allows certain individuals receiving Medicaid benefits to be exempt from paying premiums.

  • Adds an exemption for some people who get Medicaid so they don't have to pay premiums.
  • The exact criteria for who qualifies for this exemption are not detailed in the amendment text, making it unclear which individuals will be exempt from paying premiums.
HB1271.01.INTR.AMH01

Committee Introduced House Bill (H) • Representative Julie McGuire

Filed

Plain English: The amendment changes how health insurance companies must handle certain types of payments.

  • Adds a new requirement for health insurance companies to pay claims within a specific timeframe.
  • The exact details and conditions under which the payment requirements apply are not specified in the provided text, making it unclear how broadly this will affect insurance companies.
HB1271.02.COMH.AMH001

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Julie McGuire

Failed

Plain English: This amendment aims to modify the Indiana Code regarding insurance, but does not provide specific details on what changes it intends to make.

  • The amendment seeks to change the Indiana Insurance Code, but the exact nature of these changes is not specified in the provided text.
  • The official amendment text lacks detailed information about the specific changes to be made to the Indiana Code concerning insurance.
HB1271.02.COMH.AMH002

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Julie McGuire

Failed

Plain English: This amendment aims to modify the Indiana Code regarding insurance by adding new provisions.

  • Adds new sections to the Indiana Code concerning insurance, but the specific details of these changes are not provided in the given text.
  • The official amendment text does not provide enough information to describe the exact nature and scope of the proposed changes.
HB1271.02.COMH.AMH003

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Julie McGuire

Failed

Plain English: This amendment would add a new section to Indiana's insurance laws, but the specific details of what this section would do are not provided in the given text.

  • Adds a new section to Indiana’s insurance code, though the exact content and purpose of this new section is unclear from the provided information.
  • The amendment text does not provide enough detail about the specific changes or additions to Indiana's insurance laws.
HB1271.02.COMH.AMH004

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Julie McGuire

Passed

Plain English: This amendment changes the Indiana Code to include new requirements for insurance policies.

  • Adds new rules about what information must be included in insurance policies.
  • The official text does not provide specific details on what new information needs to be added, making it hard to explain exactly which parts of insurance policies will change.
HB1271.05.COMS.AMS001

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Failed

Plain English: This amendment aims to modify the Indiana Code regarding insurance, but the specific changes are not clearly stated in the provided information.

  • The official text does not provide enough details about what specific changes this amendment would make.
HB1271.05.COMS.AMS002

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Tyler Johnson

Failed

Plain English: This amendment would change the Indiana Code to require insurance companies to provide certain information about health care costs and coverage options.

  • Insurance companies must give policyholders detailed information about their healthcare coverage, including cost estimates for different treatments.
  • The exact details of what information insurance companies need to provide are not specified in the amendment text, making it unclear how this will be implemented.
  • It is unknown if and when this amendment might be reconsidered or passed in a similar form.
HB1271.05.COMS.AMS003

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Failed

Plain English: This amendment would change the Indiana Code to require insurance companies to provide certain information about health care costs and coverage options.

  • Insurance companies must give policyholders detailed information about their healthcare coverage, including cost estimates for different treatments.
  • The exact details of what information insurance companies need to provide are not specified in the amendment text, making it unclear how this will be implemented.
  • It is unknown if and when this amendment might be reconsidered or passed in a similar form.
HB1271.05.COMS.AMS004

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Passed

Plain English: This amendment changes the Indiana Code to require insurance companies to provide certain information about health care costs and coverage options.

  • Insurance companies must give policyholders detailed information about their healthcare costs and coverage choices.
  • The official text does not specify all the details of what information insurance companies need to provide, making it hard to know exactly how this will work in practice.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-04 House

    Signed by the Governor

  2. 2026-03-04 House

    Public Law 88

  3. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Signed by the President Pro Tempore

  4. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  5. 2026-02-26 House

    House concurred with Senate amendments; Roll Call 391: yeas 87, nays 0

  6. 2026-02-26 House

    Signed by the Speaker

  7. 2026-02-25 Senate

    Returned to the House with amendments

  8. 2026-02-25 House

    Motion to concur filed

  9. 2026-02-24 Senate

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 248: yeas 46, nays 1

  10. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  11. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Amendment #4 (Brown L) prevailed; voice vote

  12. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  13. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Pursuant to Senate Rule 68(b); reassigned to Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure

  14. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Committee report: Rules Committee Report; adopted voice vote

  15. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Senator Randolph added as cosponsor

  16. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  17. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Pursuant to Senate Rule 68(b); reassigned to Committee on Appropriations

  18. 2026-02-05 Senate

    First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services

  19. 2026-02-03 House

    Referred to the Senate

  20. 2026-02-02 House

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 179: yeas 85, nays 0

  21. 2026-02-02 House

    Senate sponsors: Senators Brown L, Crider, Johnson T

  22. 2026-01-29 House

    Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  23. 2026-01-29 House

    Amendment #4 (McGuire) prevailed; voice vote

  24. 2026-01-27 House

    Representatives Goss-Reaves, Carbaugh, Garcia Wilburn added as coauthors

  25. 2026-01-22 House

    Representatives Goss-Reaves, Garcia Wilburn, Campbell removed as coauthors

  26. 2026-01-20 House

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  27. 2026-01-13 House

    Representative Campbell added as coauthor

  28. 2026-01-12 House

    Representative Garcia Wilburn added as coauthor

  29. 2026-01-08 House

    Representative Goss-Reaves added as coauthor

  30. 2026-01-06 House

    Authored by Representative McGuire

  31. 2026-01-06 House

    First reading: referred to Committee on Insurance

Official Summary Text

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning insurance.
Payment of health claims.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning insurance.

Payment of health claims.

Requires a hospital to: (1) disclose information concerning payment assistance programs; (2) post signs concerning the programs in specified locations of the hospital; and (3) make information concerning the programs available to individuals through the hospital's patient portal. Requires a hospital to make a reasonable effort to notify individuals of available payment assistance programs before beginning a collection action against the individual. Prohibits the use of downcoding in a specified manner. Prohibits a provider from using an automated process, system, or tool to submit a health benefits claim without the review of a provider or other person involved in the development of the claim for submission. Prohibits an insurer that issues a policy of accident and sickness insurance (insurer) and a health maintenance organization from retroactively reducing the reimbursement rate for any CPT code. Sets forth limitations on the time frame in which an insurer and a health maintenance organization: (1) may request repayment of an overpayment, adjust a subsequent claim, recoup a paid claim, or retroactively audit a paid claim; and (2) is required to correct a payment error to a provider. Provides that if an insurer or a health maintenance organization recoups payment from a provider due to an error in coordination of benefits, the provider may submit a claim for the same services to the appropriate insurer or health maintenance organization.