Requiring hospitals to screen all patients for eligibility for such hospital's financial assistance program or charity care policy.

As Amended by House Committee
Session of 2026
HOUSE BILL No. 2736
By Committee on Insurance
Requested by Representative Sutton
2-5
AN ACT concerning health and healthcare; relating to hospital billing;
requiring non-disproportionate share hospitals to screen uninsured
patients for eligibility for such hospital's financial assistance programs
or charity care policy.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. (a) Using the process prescribed by the Kansas department
of health and environment, a non-disproportionate share hospital shall
screen all uninsured patients for eligibility of such hospital's financial
assistance program and charity care policy. A hospital shall not pursue debt
collections from any patient's account : (1) Garnish the wages of a
patient; or (2) report or authorize a third-party debt collector to
report medical financial information or debt to any credit bureau until
the hospital verifies that such patient is not eligible for the hospital's
financial assistance program or charity care policy.
(b) The secretary of health and environment shall adopt rules and
regulations to establish a process for screening a patient for eligibility for a
hospital's financial assistance program and charity care under subsection
(a). Such screening may be conducted by a third-party vendor with
demonstrated experience in conducting such medical charity care and
financial eligibility screening.
(c) The process adopted by rules and regulations under subsection (b)
shall require that a hospital:
(1) Conduct the screening not later than 90 days post-discharge and
apply any charity care discounts or full cost coverage for which the patient
qualifies before sending a bill to such patient; and
(2) include on each billing statement a notice of:
(A) The availability of financial assistance;
(B) the contact information for the office or department of the
hospital that can provide information about obtaining financial assistance;
and
(C) the direct internet address for the financial assistance policy.
(d) A patient may apply for charity care appeal an adverse
determination if the patient was screened for eligibility and is was found
ineligible or the patient disagrees with the amount of the charity care
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HB 2736—Am. by HC 2
discount.
(e) If a hospital makes an incorrect determination under subsection
(a) based on the information provided by the patient at the time of the
determination, the hospital shall:
(1) Refund the amount of charity care for which the patient qualified
any amount paid by the patient that exceeds the actual amount owed ;
and
(2) reimburse any other associated reasonable costs, such as legal
expenses and fees, incurred by the patient in securing charity care.
(f) If the hospital sold medical debt based on an incorrect
determination to a collection agency or authorized a collection agency to
collect such debt on behalf of the hospital, the hospital shall notify the
collection agency that such debt is invalid and take measures to ensure
that the patient's credit report has been corrected within 90 calendar
days.
(g) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring
a civil action against the hospital for injunctive relief and damages As used
in this section, a non-disproportionate share hospital is a healthcare
facility that does not meet the specific federal or state medicaid or
medicare criteria for treating a high volume of low-income uninsured
or medicaid-eligible patients.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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