6 Del. C. § 2505J: Billing and collections rules; limits on creditors [Effective upon fulfillment of contingency in 85 Del. Laws, c. 349, § 6(b)].

(a) The following extraordinary collections actions may not be used by any medical creditor or medical debt collector to collect debts owed for health-care services:

(1) Causing an individual’s arrest.

(2) Causing an individual to be subject to a writ of body attachment or capias.

(3) Foreclosing on an individual’s real property.

(4) Garnishing the wages, disability insurance payments or any other disability benefits, workers’ compensation payments, or unemployment benefits of a patient.

(5) Garnishing or attaching a bank account, pension, annuity, or retirement account of a patient.

(6) Levying on tangible personal property of a patient.

(b) A large health-care facility or medical creditor that sells medical debt to a medical debt buyer or medical debt collector under a contract described in § 2502J(4)a. of this title remains liable for any actions taken by the medical debt buyer or medical debt collector, including any violations of any provisions of this chapter.

(c) No medical creditor or medical debt collector may engage in any permissible extraordinary collection actions until 120 days after the first bill for a medical debt has been sent.

(d) At least 30 days before taking any extraordinary collection actions, a medical creditor or medical debt collector must provide to the patient a notice containing all of the following:

(1) In the case of large health-care facilities and medical debt collectors collecting debt for health-care services provided by such facilities, stating whether financial assistance is available for eligible individuals and providing a plain-language summary of any such financial assistance policy.

(2) Identifying the extraordinary collection actions that will be initiated in order to obtain payment.

(3) Providing a deadline after which such extraordinary collection actions will be initiated which may be no earlier than 30 days after the date of the notice.

(e) A large health-care facility or a medical debt collector collecting the debt for health-care services provided by such a facility may not use any extraordinary collection actions unless these actions are described in the large health-care facility’s billing and collections policy.

(f) If the patient has paid any part of the medical debt in excess of the amount the patient owes after any financial assistance or charity care offered by the large health-care facility, the large health-care facility or medical debt collector must refund any excess amount to the patient within 60 days. If a change in the financial circumstances of the patient makes the patient eligible for any financial assistance or charity care, any payments made prior to the change in circumstances that make the patient eligible for such financial assistance or charity care are not required to be refunded.

(g) Any party taking action to collect medical debt must disclose in court pleadings whether the party is a “medical creditor,” a “medical debt collector,” or neither, as defined in § 2502J of this title. Failure to properly disclose or accurately disclose such 12 information is a violation of this chapter and subject to all remedies under § 2511J of this title.

(h) A medical creditor or medical debt collector may not take any extraordinary collection action against a patient who qualifies for financial assistance under subchapter VII of Chapter 99 of Title 16 or against a patient whom the medical creditor has reason to know likely qualifies for financial assistance under subchapter VII of Chapter 99 of Title 16.