News of the Idaho Patient Act is sweeping Idaho and making headlines across the nation. Here, you have access to the latest articles available from dozens of news outlets. Start by reading the four-part investigative series that exposed the issue.
IDAHO STATESMAN — An Idaho Senate panel on Wednesday approved legislation to create transparency in medical bills sent to patients and rein in predatory medical debt collectors. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to approve the measure backers call consumer protection legislation but opponents say would increase healthcare costs for patients who pay their […]
POST REGISTER — A bill to put some limits on medical debt collectors in Idaho is one step closer to becoming law. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to send the Idaho Patient Act to the full Senate. The bill already passed the House, and if it passes the Senate it goes to Gov. […]
BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO — Moderate House Republicans teamed up with Democrats Monday to push through sweeping changes in how Idaho regulates medical debt collections. The vote was a striking rebuke of one of their own and a tale of tug o’war between an influential lobbying group and a billionaire businessman. The bill is being […]
IDAHO PRESS — After an extensive debate that stretched through and beyond the noon hour – and included lengthy debate against the bill by Rep. Bryan Zollinger, R-Idaho Falls, an attorney who’s in the medical debt collection business and who said he has a conflict of interest on the issue but still planned to debate […]
Legislative Profiles – See how they voted
EAST IDAHO NEWS — The bill, HB 515, passed the House with 49 votes in favor and 20 votes against with one person abstaining. It now goes to the Senate Business Committee for debate. The legislation is, in part, a response to medical debt collection practices discovered in east Idaho. In an investigation conducted by […]
IDAHO STATESMAN — Legislation to create transparency in medical bills sent to patients and to rein in predatory medical debt collectors headed to the Idaho Senate Monday after an extraordinary debate in the House. Representatives approved the legislation in a 49-20 vote after a two-hour debate where lawmakers shared personal stories, some decrying late-arriving medical […]
Idaho Mountain Express — Wrongheaded and lunatic legislation more often than not gets the headlines when the Idaho Legislature meets every winter in Boise. The statehouse too often is a dark thicket of tangled and prickly ideologies that strangle good ideas and good public policy. Even so, this year some good ideas may survive committee […]
THE LEWISTON TRIBUNE — CHEERS … to state Rep. Thyra Stevenson, R-Nezperce. On Wednesday, Stevenson joined a majority of House Business Committee members who backed a bill that requires health care providers to meet billing deadlines. It delays imposition of interest and collection services. And it limits how much lawyers can earn while processing debts. […]
EAST IDAHO NEWS — After hearing passionate and sometimes heated testimony, the House Business & Consumer Committee advanced the Idaho Patient Act to the House floor. All but two legislators of the 18-person committee gave the Idaho Patient Act a “do pass” Wednesday. The recommendation came after individuals for and against the bill testified for […]
