HB 178-MEDICAL DEBT: INFORMATION, DISCRIMINATION  4:23:03 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 178, "An Act relating to medical debt and consumer credit reporting agencies; relating to discriminatory practices based on the medical debt of a person; and providing for an effective date." 4:23:43 PM The committee took a brief at-ease at 4:23 p.m. 4:24:19 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS entertained amendments. 4:24:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE COULOMBE moved to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 178, labeled 34-LS0569\N.1, Gunther, 5/1/25, which read as follows: Page 1, line 10: Delete "the person's medical debt" Insert "a medical debt the person has had for  less than 12 months" Page 2, line 3, following "debt": Insert "the person has had for less than 12  months" Page 2, line 12, following "debt": Insert "a person has had for less than 12 months" Page 2, line 26, following "debt": Insert "a person has had for less than 12 months" Page 2, line 31, through page 3, line 1: Delete "the person's medical debt" Insert "a medical debt the person has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, lines 3 - 4: Delete "the person's medical debt" Insert "a medical debt the person has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, lines 5 - 6: Delete "the medical debt of a person" Insert "a medical debt a person has had for less than 12 months if the person is" Page 3, line 9: Delete "the person's medical debt" Insert "a medical debt the person has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, line 13: Delete "person's medical debt" Insert "medical debt the person has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, line 20, following "debt": Insert "a consumer has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, line 24, following "debt": Insert "a consumer has had for less than 12 months" Page 3, line 25, following "use": Insert "that" CO-CHAIR FIELDS objected. REPRESENTATIVE COULOMBE stated that she was concerned about longstanding large debts. She explained that Amendment 1 would keep an individual's medical debt hidden if the debt is 12 months or less outstanding. She stated that the amendment was concurrent with general practices for credit reporting, as they typically do not report medical debt less than a year old. 4:25:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE GENEVIEVE MINA, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, answered questions during the hearing on HB 178. She offered her appreciation for the amendment but stated that she opposed the amendment. She reported that, due to increased scrutiny on the correlation between medical debts and credit trustworthiness, major credit reporting entities had stopped reporting delinquent medical bills less than 12 months old. She stated that there are individuals who are taking longer than 12 months to resolve their medical bills due to negotiations with both insurance companies and the hospitals. 4:26:50 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER offered his appreciation for the amendment, noting that he liked the nuanced approach. He stated that he felt 12 months was reasonable accommodation. He offered his support for the amendment. A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Saddler, Coulombe, and Nelson voted in favor of the motion to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 178. Representatives Burke, Carrick, Hall, and Fields voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 failed to be adopted by a vote of 3-4. 4:28:13 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS moved to adopt Amendment 2 to HB 178, labeled 34-LS0569\N.3, Gunther, 5/1/25, which read as follows: Page 1, line 5, through page 2, line 27: Delete all material. Page 2, line 28: Delete "Sec. 2" Insert "Section 1" Delete "a new subsection" Insert "new subsections" Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 3, following line 13: Insert a new subsection to read: "(c) In this section, "medical debt" has the meaning given in AS 45.85.800(c)." Page 3, lines 14 - 15: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK objected for purposes of discussion. CO-CHAIR FIELDS explained that employers tend to conduct background checks when hiring new employees, which typically include credit scores in the application process. He explained that the amendment would remove "medical debt" as a "protected class" in employment for the purpose of simplifying the proposed bill. 4:28:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE MINA offered her support for the amendment. She stated that, originally, HB 178 contained provisions regarding discrimination from employers and prospective landlords related to medical debt. She noted that landlords typically ask about medical debt, whereas employers typically do not explicitly ask about medical debt. She stated the intended focus of the proposed bill was landlords, rental applications, and credit reports. 4:29:34 PM REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK removed her objection to the motion to Amendment 2 to HB 178. There being no further objection, Amendment 2 was adopted. 4:29:46 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER moved to adopt Amendment [3] to HB 178, as amended, labeled 34-LS0569\N.5, Gunther, 5/5/25, which read as follows: Page 1, line 1: Delete "relating to medical debt and consumer  credit reporting agencies;" Page 3, line 15: Delete "has the meaning given in AS 45.85.800(c)" Insert "means an obligation for the payment of money arising out of an agreement or contract, express or implied, for the provision of health care services, products, or devices; "medical debt" does not include debt charged to a credit card or an extension of credit made by a financial institution to a borrower" Page 3, line 16, through page 4, line 8: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill section accordingly. CO-CHAIR FIELDS objected. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER explained that the amendment would remove Section 4 of the proposed legislation, noting that Section 4 bars a medical collections agency from reporting a medical debt to a credit agency. He stated that the committee had previously heard conflicting legal advice about whether Section 4 violates federal laws that preempt states from passing laws that regulate medical debt. He argued that by removing Section 4 from the legislation, it resolves the legal issue, thus making passage of HB 156 easier. 4:30:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE MINA stated that she opposed the amendment, noting that Section 4 of HB 178 was a critical part of the proposed legislation. She argued that, according to the case law, there was no narrow preemption that would supersede the states ability from regulating credit reports in such a way that would prohibit the reporting of medical debt. She noted that there have been many legal memos due to the complexity of the issue. 4:31:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER offered his appreciation but suggested that avoiding that legal conflict would be preferable. 4:31:58 PM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Nelson, Coulombe, and Saddler voted in favor of the motion to adopt Amendment 3 to HB 178, as amended. Representatives Burke, Carrick, Hall, and Fields voted against it. Therefore, the motion to adopt Amendment 3 failed to be adopted by a vote of 3-4. 4:32:36 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS moved Amendment 4 to HB 178, as amended, labeled 34-LS0569\N.6, Gunther, 5/6/25, which read as follows: Page 3, line 15: Delete "AS 45.85.800(c)" Insert "AS 45.48.800(c)" CO-CHAIR HALL objected. CO-CHAIR FIELDS explained that Amendment 4 would fix a technical drafting error, which referenced the wrong statute with regards to the definition of "medical debt." He further asked the prime sponsor whether the amendment was appropriate. REPRESENTATIVE MINA confirmed the amendment appropriately references "medical debt" as it related to the proposed legislation. She thanked Representative Saddler for noticing the drafting error. CO-CHAIR HALL removed her objection. There being no further objection, Amendment 4 to HB 178, as amended, was adopted. 4:33:41 PM CO-CHAIR HALL moved to report HB 178, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER objected. A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Carrick, Nelson, Burke, Hall, and Fields voted in favor of the motion to report HB 178, as amended, out of committee. Representatives Coulombe and Saddler voted against it. Therefore, CSHB 178(L&C) was reported out of the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee by a vote of 5-2.