DOH Guidance: Patient Financial Consent Requirement Scheduled for October 20 Implementation “On Hold”
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Thank you to the many physicians and practice staff who contacted the DOH, the Governor’s office and state legislators highlighting the implementation challenges of well-intended, but serious problematic, provisions adopted in the 2024-25 New York State Budget related to the collection of payments from patients. We have heard from several state legislators who have been receiving letters from their constituent physicians.
This past weekend the New York State Department of Health issued a guidance that it had received “outreach and questions from a variety of stakeholders” about the meaning of one the new provisions that requires a health care provider to obtain separate consent from a patient for payment. As a result “the implementation of this provision is on hold until further guidance is released”.
Please remain alert for further updates as MSSNY together with specialty societies and numerous other allies continue to advocate for legislation that would revise this requirement to ensure it is more consonant with medical office workflow and laws that require disclosure of charges prior to the delivery of patient medical services.
Other Billing Provisions Now Effective
Please also be aware that the guidance discusses other patient billing provisions enacted in the State Budget that have NOT been put on hold and are now required as of October 20, including:
- Permitting patients the option to have a credit card on file, but prohibiting health care providers from requiring it from patients
- Requiring health care providers to disclose to patients paying by credit card specific medical debt protections that will not be applicable.
- Prohibiting health care providers from affirmatively completing any portion of an application for a “medical credit card” on behalf of a patient. Providers may answer a patient’s questions and provide assistance if requested, so long as the application is completed wholly by the patient
