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SB 280UTAHSession 2026State Billdead

Did Not Advance

Utah SB 280 caps medical damages in personal injury lawsuits and mandates payment disclosure

Original title: Damages Amendments

Last action · March 6, 2026: Senate/ filedSponsor: Ron Winterton

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

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What This Bill Proposed

Utah SB 280 limits the recovery of medical damages in civil personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits to the actual amounts paid, owed, or necessary for future care, and requires plaintiffs to disclose payment sources and third-party debt purchasing.

Why it matters

Changes how much financial compensation injured plaintiffs can claim for medical care by tying recoverable amounts to what insurance or negotiated rates actually cover rather than total billed charges, affecting personal injury settlements and litigation strategies.

Background

Letters of protection are frequently used in personal injury cases to allow patients to receive medical treatment without upfront payment in exchange for a portion of the future lawsuit settlement. context
State legislatures frequently evaluate rules governing the admissibility of medical billing amounts versus actual insurance payout amounts in civil lawsuits. context

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Plaintiffs in civil actions

Plaintiffs are restricted in the maximum amount of medical damages they can recover and must disclose insurance and payment arrangement details.

Directly affected

Factoring companies

Factoring companies that purchase medical debt collection rights must have their purchase price and identity disclosed in court proceedings.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What lawsuits are affected by this bill?

The bill applies to civil actions to recover damages resulting from injury or death, except for medical malpractice actions against a health care provider.

What information must a plaintiff disclose when using a letter of protection?

A plaintiff must disclose a copy of the , itemized and coded medical charges, whether health plan coverage existed, the identity of the health plan, whether a referral was made under a letter of protection, and if a purchased the debt, the name of the company and the purchase price.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

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Votes, people, money & the original source

Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.

Procedural history

15 actions

Mar 6, 2026Senate
Senate/ filed
Mar 6, 2026Senate
Senate/ strike enacting clause
Mar 3, 2026Senate
Senate/ comm rpt/ sent to Rules
Mar 2, 2026Senate
Senate Comm - Recommends Returned to Rules
Feb 25, 2026Senate
Senate Comm - Not Considered
Feb 17, 2026Senate
Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst

Show 9 earlier actions

Feb 17, 2026Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0280
Feb 13, 2026Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0280
Feb 12, 2026SenateCommittee
Senate/ to standing committee
Feb 10, 2026SenateIntroduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
Feb 10, 2026Senate
Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research
Feb 10, 2026Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0280
Feb 10, 2026Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0280
Feb 10, 2026Legislative Research and General Counsel
Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
Feb 10, 2026Legislative Research and General Counsel
Bill Numbered but not Distributed

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Evidentiary Standard for Medical Damages

The bill shifts allowable proof of medical damages from total billed amounts to actual paid, owed, or future necessary payment values.

Connected Entities

Ronald M. Winterton

PersonRonald M. Winterton“Chief Sponsor of SB 280”Map →

Sources

Open source document

le.utah.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance20
Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
Controversy65
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz30
Current news / social attention level

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