LA County Board

3. Reducing Medical Debt in Los Angeles County Through Improved Data\nCollection and Innovative Strategies to Retire Medical Debt\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Hahn and Mitchell: Instruct the\nDirectors of Public Health and Consumer and Business Affairs, the Chief\nExecutive Officer, and County Counsel, to develop an ordinance within 90 days\nto require collection of data and policies on debt collection and financial\nassistance activities from hospitals operating in the County, the information\nmust be posted publicly and updated regularly on an online dashboard on the\nDepartment of Public Health’s website with the option to provide printed copies\nupon request; and take the following actions:\nInstruct the Directors of Public Health, Consumer and Business Affairs,\nthe Chief Executive Officer, and County Counsel, to partner with\nhospitals operating in the County to identify best practices related to debt\ncollection and financial assistance activities, including data collection and\nsystems change, and post this information publicly;\nInstruct the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Directors of\nConsumer and Business Affairs, Health Services, Mental Health,\nEconomic Opportunity, and Public Social Services, in collaboration with\ncommunity partners, to report back to the Board in writing in 120 days,\nwith recommendations for further efforts towards reducing medical debt\nin the County, including the following:\nThe identification of additional County policies and practices that\ncan reduce the accumulation of medical debt;\nIdentification of strategies to reduce the accumulation of medical\ndebt in all health care facilities;\nThe identification of strategies to alleviate medical debt burden,\nsuch as working with Medi-Cal managed care plans to educate\nmembers on coverage limitations for seeking emergency,\nspecialist, and out of network care that might result in an\nunexpected medical bill;\nRecommendations for improving financial assistance eligibility\nassessment, applications, awareness, and overall policies, to\nreduce the accumulation of medical debt among patients and\nsimplify administrative burdens;\nAssessment of available free and low-cost legal resources, that\nprovide legal representation for medical billing disputes, debt\nnegotiation and reduction, and to protect against aggressive debt\ncollection practices, with the assessment to include the feasibility\nof partnering, scaling, and/or the development of new\nprogramming; and\nStrategies to increase awareness of consumer protection laws\nrelated to medical debt collection and accessibility of healthcare\nresources, such as low-cost clinics, public health programs, and\nhealth insurance options to empower constituents to make\ninformed healthcare choices and reduce the likelihood of incurring\nsubstantial medical debt, these strategies, where appropriate,\nshould be made available in multiple languages; and\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, in collaboration with the Directors of\nPublic Health, Consumer and Business Affairs, and Health Services, to\nreport back to the Board in writing in 90 days on the feasibility of\npurchasing and retiring County residents’ medical debt and provide a\nreport back on potential County, State, Federal, and philanthropic\nfunding sources to support this endeavor; and\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, through the Legislative Affairs and\nIntergovernmental Relations Branch, in collaboration with County\nCounsel, and the Directors of Public Health, Consumer and Business\nAffairs, and Health Services, to report back to the Board in writing in 90\ndays, on legislative and regulatory advocacy options at the State and\nFederal levels, such as aligning with upcoming Federal rulemaking that\nwould bar medical debt from impacting credit scores, additionally,\nconsider policy changes that would mitigate and reduce medical debt,\nsuch as improved community benefit reporting requirements, greater\nhospital pricing transparency, and consistency across the County,\nexpanded consumer protections, and measures to reduce the cost of\ncare and the cost of insurance. (23-3602)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Hahn and Mitchell\nPublic Comment/Correspondence