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Read. Follow. Verify.Maryland Senate Bill 796 Establishes Consumer Protections and Restrictions for Health Care Financing
Last action · March 16, 2026: Withdrawn by SponsorSponsor: Clarence Lam
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What This Bill Proposed
Establishing consumer protections related to health care financing, including disclosure and refund requirements; prohibiting health care providers and certain agents of health care providers from offering, obtaining, applying, assisting in applying for certain financing; prohibiting a health care provider from promoting certain financing to certain patients or billing a certain financier before a certain number of days prior to a procedure; etc.
Patients dealing with non-hospital health care providers gain new rights to written cost estimates, mandatory disclosures about third-party loans, and guaranteed full refunds within 15 days for unrendered services.
- State legislatures frequently introduce consumer protection measures to regulate medical credit cards and third-party medical financing options offered in provider offices. context
- The Consumer Protection Division operates within the Maryland Office of the Attorney General to enforce state consumer protection laws and investigate deceptive trade practices. 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.
Health care providers
Health care providers must comply with new restrictions on discussing, promoting, and assisting with third-party financing, and must provide detailed disclosures, treatment plans, and 15-day refunds.
Patients
Patients receive new mandatory cost disclosures, written treatment plans, restrictions on when loans can be applied for or billed, and guaranteed refund timelines.
Third-party financiers
Financiers face restrictions on when they can be billed relative to treatment dates and are required to credit refunds against loan or credit card balances.
Key Facts
- Health care providers must provide a specific written disclosure and a written treatment plan before discussing third-party financing with a patient.
- Providers are prohibited from obtaining third-party financing on behalf of a patient, completing any part of a financing application, or providing an electronic device to apply for financing.
- Providers may not promote third-party financing to a patient who is under the influence of mind-altering substances, actively undergoing treatment, or in a treatment area unless no alternative area exists.
- Providers are prohibited from offering financing, accepting third-party financing, or charging a health credit card if the patient's insurance covers the services, except for copays, coinsurance, or deductibles.
Show all 8 facts
- Providers may not bill a third-party financier more than 30 days before providing the health care services.
- Patients are entitled to a full refund for any unprovided treatment within 15 days after requesting the refund.
- The Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General must prepare and publish a disclosure form advising patients that health care bills paid by credit card are not considered health care debt and lack certain legal protections.
- A violation of this subtitle constitutes an unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practice under Title 13 of the Commercial Law Article.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a health care provider prohibited from doing regarding third-party financing?
What information must be included in the written treatment plan?
What happens if a health care provider violates these financing rules?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Withdrawn.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 16, 2026SenateWithdrawn by Sponsor
- Mar 10, 2026SenateHearing canceled
- Feb 12, 2026SenateHearing 3/12 at 1:00 p.m.
- Feb 6, 2026SenateIntroducedFirst Reading Finance
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.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Integration with Existing Consumer Protection Laws
The bill ties violations of health care financing rules directly to Maryland's established unfair and deceptive trade practices framework under Title 13.
Connected Entities
Sources
mgaleg.maryland.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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