As used in this part 9, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) Collection action means any of the following actions taken with respect
to a debt for items and services that were purchased from or provided to a patient
by a hospital on a date during which the hospital was not in material compliance
with hospital price transparency laws:
(a) Attempting to collect a debt from a patient or patient guarantor by
referring the debt, directly or indirectly, to a debt collector, a collection agency, or
other third party retained by or on behalf of the hospital;
(b) Suing the patient or patient guarantor or enforcing an arbitration or
mediation clause in any hospital documents, including contracts, agreements,
statements, or bills; or
(c) Directly or indirectly causing a report to be made to a consumer reporting
agency.
(2) (a) Collection agency means any:
(I) Person who engages in a business, the principal purpose of which is the
collection of debts; or
(II) Person who:
(A) Regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts
owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another;
(B) Takes assignment of debts for collection purposes;
(C) Directly or indirectly solicits for collection debts owed or due or asserted
to be owed or due to another; or
(D) Collects debt for the department of personnel.
(b) Collection agency does not include:
(I) Any officer or employee of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor,
collecting debts for such creditor;
(II) Any person while acting as a collection agency for another person, both
of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the
person acting as a collection agency does so only for creditors to whom it is so
related or affiliated and if the principal business of the person is not the collection
of debts;
(III) Any officer or employee of the United States or any state to the extent
that collecting or attempting to collect any debt is in the performance of the
officer's or employee's official duties;
(IV) Any person while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any
other person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt;
(V) Any debt-management services provider operating in compliance with or
exempt from the Uniform Debt-Management Services Act, part 2 of article 19 of
title 5;
(VI) Any person collecting or attempting to collect any debt owed or due or
asserted to be owed or due another to the extent that:
(A) The activity is incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide
escrow arrangement;
(B) The activity concerns a debt that was extended by the person;
(C) The activity concerns a debt that was not in default at the time it was
obtained by the person; or
(D) The activity concerns a debt obtained by the person as a secured party in
a commercial credit transaction involving the creditor;
(VII) Any person whose principal business is the making of loans or the
servicing of debt not in default and who acts as a loan correspondent, seller and
servicer for the owner, or holder of a debt that is secured by a deed of trust on real
property, whether or not the debt is also secured by an interest in personal
property; or
(VIII) A limited gaming or racing licensee acting pursuant to article 33 of title
44.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2)(b) of this section,
collection agency includes any person who, in the process of collecting the
person's own debts, uses another name that would indicate that a third person is
collecting or attempting to collect such debts.
(3) (a) Consumer reporting agency means any person that, for monetary
fees or dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages, in whole or in
part, in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or
other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to
third parties. Consumer reporting agency includes any person defined in 15 U.S.C.
sec. 1681a (f) or section 5-18-103 (4).
(b) Consumer reporting agency does not include any business entity that
provides check verification or check guarantee services only.
(4) (a) Debt means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to
pay money arising out of a transaction, whether or not the obligation has been
reduced to judgment.
(b) Debt does not include a debt for business, investment, commercial, or
agricultural purposes or a debt incurred by a business.
(5) Debt collector means any person employed or engaged by a collection
agency to perform the collection of debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or
due to another.
(6) Federal centers for medicare and medicaid services or CMS means
the centers for medicare and medicaid services in the United States department of
health and human services.
(7) Hospital means, consistent with 45 CFR 180.20, a hospital:
(a) Licensed or certified by the department of public health and environment
pursuant to section 25-1.5-103 (1)(a); or
(b) Approved by the department of public health and environment as
meeting the standards established for licensing a hospital.
(8) Hospital price transparency laws means section 2718 (e) of the Public
Health Service Act, Pub.L. 78-410, as amended, and rules adopted by the United
States department of health and human services implementing section 2718 (e).
(9) Items and services or items or services means items and services as
defined in 45 CFR 180.20.