# 119-hr-7478: Patient Debt Relief Act

119-hr-7478, Patient Debt Relief Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7478
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7478
- Congress: 119
- Title: Patient Debt Relief Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-02-10
- Sponsor: Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 18
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**This bill would require Medicare-participating hospitals to follow new financial-assistance rules and strict limits on medical debt collection.** It would also create a federal grant program to buy and discharge qualifying medical debt. - Hospitals would have to publish a charity care or financial assistance policy, screen patients for eligibility, decide eligibility at least 30 days before payment is due, allow appeals, and pause collection until eligibility is determined. The bill adds civil monetary penalties for noncompliance up to $1,000,000 per instance with a 90-day notice and a 45-day window to show corrective action. - Patients and households would get stronger protections against harsh collections. Hospitals may not place liens, foreclose on homes, or garnish wages, and they generally cannot sell or assign debt unless it is over one year past due and a repayment option exists with monthly payments capped at 4 percent of gross monthly income; households at or below 250 percent of the poverty line cannot be charged interest or have their debt sold or assigned. - The bill creates a grant program to let the Department of Health and Human Services fund at most one eligible nonprofit to acquire and discharge medical debt. An "eligible individual" is someone whose medical debt is 5 percent or more of their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or whose household income is at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty line; grantees must notify people within 60 days and report quarterly. *Authorizes $100 million for fiscal year 2027 for the grant program, increasing federal outlays to carry out medical debt relief.*

## Cosponsors (18)

- Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ruiz, Raul [D-CA-25] (D-CA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42] (D-CA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Horsford, Steven [D-NV-4] (D-NV), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN), 2026-02-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Grants to buy and forgive medical debt: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Secretary would set up a grant program within one year to award grants to up to one nonprofit to identify, buy, and discharge medical debt for eligible people. An eligible person would be someone whose medical debt is at least 5% of their modified adjusted gross income for the most…
- New hospital limits on medical bills: benefit, medium. This bill would require hospitals to publish a charity care or financial assistance policy and screen patients for help. If you apply, the hospital would decide if you qualify at least 30 days before a bill is due and could not try to collect until a decision is made. Hospitals would generally be b…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-7478 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7478)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7478 (as of 2026-04-21).