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HB-6071, As Passed House, June 23, 2026
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HOUSE BILL NO. 6071
A bill to require hospitals to develop and implement financial
assistance programs for certain patients; to provide for the powers
and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and
entities; to allow for the promulgation of rules; and to prescribe
civil sanctions and remedies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. (1) This act may be cited as the "hospital financial 1
assistance act". 2
(2) As used in this act, the words and phrases defined in 3
sections 3 to 4 have the meanings ascribed to them in those 4
June 10, 2026, Introduced by Reps. Schmaltz, BeGole, Wozniak, Outman, Frisbie, Alexander,
Bohnak, Cavitt, Roth, Linting, Aragona and Schuette and referred to Committee on Health
Policy.
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sections. 1
Sec. 3. (1) "Department" means the department of health and 2
human services. 3
(2) "Director" means the director of the department. 4
(3) "Federal poverty guidelines" means the poverty guidelines 5
revised periodically and published in the Federal Register by the 6
secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human 7
Services under the secretary's authority to revise the poverty line 8
under 42 USC 9902. 9
(4) "Financial assistance program" or "program" means the 10
financial assistance program required under section 5. 11
(5) "Health benefit plan" means an individual or group 12
expense-incurred hospital, medical, or surgical policy or 13
certificate, an individual or group health maintenance organization 14
contract, or a self-funded plan established or maintained by this 15
state or a local unit of government for its employees. Health 16
benefit plan does not include accident-only, credit, dental, or 17
disability income insurance; long-term care insurance; coverage 18
issued as a supplement to liability insurance; coverage only for a 19
specified disease or illness; worker's compensation or similar 20
insurance; or automobile medical-payment insurance. 21
(6) "Hospital" means that term as defined in section 20106 of 22
the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.20106. 23
Sec. 4. (1) "Income" means that term as defined in section 510 24
of the income tax act of 1967, 1967 PA 281, MCL 206.510. 25
(2) "Insured patient" means a patient who is enrolled in 26
Medicaid or Medicare or is covered under a health benefit plan. 27
(3) "Medicaid" means the program of medical assistance 28
established under title XIX of the social security act, 42 USC 1396 29
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to 1396w-9, and administered by the department under the social 1
welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.1 to 400.119b. 2
(4) "Medicare" means the federal Medicare program established 3
under title XVIII of the social security act, 42 USC 1395 to 4
1395mmm. 5
(5) "Uninsured patient" means a patient who is not an insured 6
patient. 7
Sec. 5. (1) By January 1, 2027, a hospital shall develop and 8
implement a financial assistance program for patients receiving 9
care from the hospital. 10
(2) A program must comply with all of the following: 11
(a) Base patient eligibility on objective metrics that are 12
tied to federal poverty guidelines. 13
(b) Include in the program a patient who owes the hospital 1 14
or more unpaid bills in a 12-month period that, in total, are 15
greater than 30% of the patient's annual income. 16
(c) Provide for up to a 100% discount based on a sliding scale 17
for a patient who is an uninsured patient and whose annual income 18
is at or below 350% of the federal poverty guidelines. 19
(d) Consider the financial resources and out-of-pocket 20
expenses of a patient who is covered under a health benefit plan. 21
Sec. 7. (1) A hospital shall conspicuously publish information 22
on the hospital's financial assistance program on all of the 23
following: 24
(a) A bill, invoice, or summary of charges sent to a patient. 25
(b) A statement or written notification sent to a patient 26
before a patient's medical debt to the hospital is sent to a 27
collection agency. 28
(c) The hospital's website. 29
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(2) A hospital shall ensure that information on the hospital's 1
financial assistance program meets all of the following: 2
(a) Is written in easily understood, nontechnical terms. 3
(b) Includes information on how to reach a department or an 4
employee of the hospital to inquire about the financial assistance 5
program. 6
(c) Is available on request in English, Spanish, and in other 7
languages, as determined appropriate by the department. 8
(d) Includes information on how to file a complaint for a 9
violation of this act or a rule promulgated under this act. 10
Sec. 9. (1) Subject to subsection (2), by October 1, 2027, a 11
hospital shall submit an annual report to the director that 12
includes all of the following information: 13
(a) The number of applications for the hospital's financial 14
assistance program that was received and processed by the hospital. 15
(b) The amount and types of benefits provided by the hospital 16
under the hospital's financial assistance program. 17
(c) The amount of uncollected or forgiven debt that the 18
hospital provides to patients who do not qualify for the hospital's 19
financial assistance program. 20
(2) If a hospital is part of a health system with more than 1 21
hospital, the health system may file 1 annual report under this 22
section containing the information for each hospital in the health 23
system. If a health system files the report under this subsection, 24
the health system shall ensure that the report is organized in a 25
manner to identify the information required under subsection (1) 26
for each hospital, by hospital name and location. 27
(3) The department shall publish the reports the department 28
receives under this section on the department's website in an area 29
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that is accessible to the public. 1
Sec. 10. (1) The department shall establish by rule a uniform 2
process for a hospital to collect information on a patient's income 3
for determining eligibility for the hospital's financial assistance 4
program. Subject to subsection (4), in establishing the process 5
described in this subsection, the department shall consider all of 6
the following: 7
(a) The convenience of a patient when submitting information 8
to a hospital. 9
(b) A patient's ease of access to any technology that is 10
required by the department. 11
(2) A hospital shall comply with the process developed by the 12
department under subsection (1). 13
(3) A patient's failure to provide the information required 14
under subsection (1) to a hospital using the process developed 15
under this section is an affirmative defense to an action brought 16
under section 11 or 13. 17
(4) In developing the process described in subsection (1), the 18
department shall consult with hospitals and organizations 19
representing hospitals and the department may consult with the 20
department of treasury or any other department of this state that 21
the department considers necessary or appropriate. 22
Sec. 11. (1) A person may notify the department of a violation 23
of this act or a rule promulgated under this act on a form and in a 24
manner prescribed by the department. The department shall 25
investigate each complaint received in a timely manner. 26
(2) If, after investigation by the department, it is the 27
judgment of the department that a person has engaged in an act or 28
practice that constitutes a violation of this act, the director may 29
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Final Page
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request the attorney general to bring an action in the name of the 1
people of this state to restrain, enjoin, prevent, or correct a 2
violation of this act or a rule promulgated under this act. 3
Sec. 13. A hospital that violates this act is subject to a 4
civil fine of not more than $10,000.00. The attorney general may 5
bring an action to collect the fine. A fine collected must be 6
deposited in the medical debt relief fund created in section 17. 7
Sec. 17. (1) The medical debt relief fund is created in the 8
state treasury. 9
(2) The state treasurer shall deposit money received under 10
section 13 or from any other source in the fund. The state 11
treasurer shall direct the investment of money in the fund and 12
credit interest and earnings from the investments to the fund. 13
(3) The department is the administrator of the fund for audits 14
of the fund. 15
(4) The department shall expend money from the fund on 16
appropriation only to implement programs to relieve medical debt in 17
this state. 18
Sec. 19. The department may promulgate rules pursuant to the 19
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 20
24.328, to implement this act. 21
Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless 22
Senate Bill No. 95 of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into law. 23