Assembly BillIntroduced
A 1356: Prohibits state-operated hospitals from suing patients for medical debt; defines "medical debt".
What A 1356 does, verified April 2, 2026
The bill prohibits state-operated hospitals from suing patients for medical debt. This means that state-run hospitals, such as those authorized under the education law or the public authorities law, cannot pursue litigation in civil or supreme court against patients for unpaid medical bills. The term "medical debt" refers to any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay for health care services, products, or devices provided by a hospital, healthcare professional, or ambulance service. The law takes effect immediately, making it a new rule for state-operated hospitals.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: referred to health (2026-01-07)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions2 total · showing 2
| Jan. 07, 2026 | referred to health |
| Jan. 09, 2025 | referred to health |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 9, 2025 · 332 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1356 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, OTIS, SIMONE, HEVESI, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, BURDICK, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, WEPRIN, HUNTER, STIRPE, SHIMSKY, LEVEN- BERG, GLICK, REYES, DE LOS SANTOS, McDONOUGH, SIMON, FORREST, ROSEN- THAL, MAMDANI, RAGA, BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting state- operated hospitals from suing patients for medical debt The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 51 2 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 51 4 PROHIBITION ON STATE-OPERATED HOSPITALS SUING PATIENTS FOR 5 MEDICAL DEBT 6 Section 5100. Prohibition on state-operated hospitals suing patients for 7 medical debt. 8 § 5100. Prohibition on state-operated hospitals suing patients for 9 medical debt. 1. No state university health care facility authorized 10 under article eight of the education law, cancer institute authorized 11 under article ten-C of the public authorities law, or hospital author- 12 ized under section twenty-six hundred of this chapter shall pursue liti- 13 gation in civil or supreme court against a patient for the pursuit of a 14 medical debt. 15 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "medical debt" shall 16 mean an obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay any amount 17 related to the receipt of health care services, products, or devices 18 provided to a person by a hospital licensed under article twenty-eight 19 of this chapter, a health care professional authorized under title eight 20 of the education law or an ambulance service certified under article 21 thirty of this chapter. 22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00559-01-5
Text of A 1356 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions