Bill Description: Senate Bill 1079 would impose more regulations and limitations on individuals and businesses that seek to collect unpaid medical debt.
Rating: -3
NOTE: Senate Bill 1079 deals with the "Idaho Patient Act" created by House Bill 515 in 2020 and amended by House Bill 778 in 2022.
Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce government intervention in the market?
Senate Bill 1079 would amend Section 48-305, Idaho Code, to further restrict the ability of medical service providers and their agents to collect persistently unpaid debts.
The new subsection would say, "The limitations on costs, expenses, and fees, including attorney's fees, provided for in this section shall apply to every action, proceeding, or judgment to which this chapter applies and to every action, proceeding, or judgment founded on or derived from such a judgment, including without limitation a new cause of action on a judgment, a judgment recovery case, or a judgment sold, transferred, or assigned by the original creditor or judgment creditor. The original action and judgment and any subsequent actions or judgments shall be considered a single action or judgment for purposes of computing or applying such limitations."
This language would expand the applicability of the Idaho Patient Act to legal judgements that do not currently fall under its jurisdiction. In practical terms, this change would make it nearly impossible to collect money that is owed, even when a judgement is entered requiring it to be paid.
(-1)
Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws that discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?
The Idaho Patient Act is discriminatory against a specific industry and denies service providers in that industry access to the legal remedies available to other service providers seeking to collect unpaid debts. The expanded limitations in Senate Bill 1079 compound this injustice.
(-1)
Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
There are numerous constitutional objections to the Idaho Patient Act, and Senate Bill 1079 exacerbates these problems.
One of the most fundamental objections is that a debt owed to a business is an asset, and the business has an inherent property right in that asset. The expanded limitations on available legal options to collect an unpaid debt imposed by Senate Bill 1079 violate these essential property rights.
(-1)
