| NJCJI successfully advocated for removal of a private right of action from New Jersey’s new medical debt collection law (P.L.2024, c.48). This new law restricts healthcare providers’ ability to assign medical debts to third parties, to report delinquencies to credit monitoring agencies, and to pursue civil actions to collect unpaid medical debts. It also requires medical professionals to offer a “reasonable payment plan” to patients. Critically, prior iterations of the law would have allowed a private right of action against medical professionals and medical debt holders who allegedly violated these hyper-technical restrictions under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (“NJCFA”), which provides fee-shifting and treble damages to successful claimants.
In both its written and oral testimony, NJCJI explained that including a private right of action in the medical debt collection law via the NJCFA would substantially harm both medical practitioners and patients by increasing abusive litigation against providers, the cost of which would be felt in the form of higher prices for health care. Moreover, NJCJI argued that a private right of action under the NJCFA would erode important judicially imposed protections for “learned professions,” such as doctors, while simultaneously exposing smaller medical practices to excessive legal exposure. Working alongside members of the medical community, NJCJI successfully advocated for substantial amendments to this law, including the removal of references to the NJCFA and by extension, eliminating the NJCFA’s corresponding private right of action and draconian remedies. As a result of NJCJI’s efforts, the medical debt collection law was ultimately amended to include a provision requiring sole and exclusive enforcement of the law by the Office of the Attorney General, thus eliminating any possible private right of action. A copy of NJCJI’s memorandum to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee can be found here. A link to NJCJI President Anthony M. Anastasio’s May 20, 2024 testimony before the Assembly financial Institutions and Insurance Committee can be found here beginning at the 1:15:45 mark. |