1. 1. Before taking any action to collect a medical debt or authorizing a collection agency or any other person or entity to take any action to collect a medical debt, a health care entity shall provide to the patient in writing, electronically or through an Internet portal:

   1. (a) An itemized statement of the medical debt owed by the patient to the health care entity, which must:

      1. (1) Be easy to understand;
      2. (2) Where applicable, comply with the requirements of NRS 449.193, 449.243 or 629.071 or any other requirements of state or federal law regarding billing for health care; and
      3. (3) Include, without limitation, the applicable billing codes, including modifiers, for each item or service for which the medical debt is owed. Those codes must use a commonly recognized system of billing codes that is identified in the statement.
   2. (b) Information concerning any available language assistance services for persons with limited English proficiency.
   3. (c) The name, telephone number and electronic mail address of a person or office at the health care entity that is authorized to discuss the itemized statement described in paragraph (a) with the patient and make changes relating to the medical debt, including, without limitation, reducing or cancelling the medical debt.
2. 2. Not later than 30 days after a medical debtor makes any payment related to a medical debt to the health care entity or a collection agency acting on behalf of the health care entity, the health care entity shall provide an itemized receipt to the medical debtor. A health care entity shall not take any action to collect a medical debt or authorize a collection agency or other entity to take any action to collect a medical debt if the health care entity has failed to timely provide any receipt required by this subsection to the medical debtor.
3. 3. If a medical debtor believes that a health care entity has taken an action in violation of subsection 1 or 2 with respect to a medical debt owed by the medical debtor, the medical debtor may file a claim with the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of the Attorney General. A medical debtor who files such a claim shall immediately notify the health care entity that he or she has filed the claim.
4. 4. Upon the filing of a claim pursuant to subsection 3, the Bureau of Consumer Protection shall investigate the claim. The health care entity shall not take any action to collect the medical debt that is the subject of the investigation or authorize a collection agency or other entity to take any action to collect that medical debt while the investigation is pending.
5. 5. If, at the conclusion of an investigation pursuant to subsection 4, the Bureau of Consumer Protection determines that the health care entity has taken an action in violation of subsection 1 or 2, the health care entity shall cancel the medical debt that is the subject of the investigation and any related medical debt and refund any amount of the medical debt or any related medical debt which has been paid by the medical debtor.
6. 6. A knowing violation of this section constitutes a deceptive trade practice for the purposes of NRS 598.0903 to 598.0999, inclusive.
7. 7. The provisions of this section do not apply to a small practitioner group practice.
8. 8. As used in this section “collection agency” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 649.020.

(Added to NRS by 2025,1655)