Nevada’s healthcare system is under pressure, and state leaders are taking action. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo introduced Nevada SB 495 to address healthcare provider shortages and vetoed AB 204 which would have prohibited medical debt credit reporting.
Nevada Healthcare Access Act
In May, Governor Lombardo introduced a new bill called the Nevada Healthcare Access Act, also known as Nevada SB 495. While the main portion of the act is aimed at addressing healthcare provider shortages, particularly in rural and underserved areas of the state, Nevada SB 495 also aims to set new statewide standards for prompt payment, credentialing, and prior authorizations.
The new standards proposed by the Nevada Healthcare Access Act are intended to hold insurers accountable and eliminate the delays that prevent patients from receiving necessary care. Nevada SB 495 would also address the provider shortages by fast-tracking licensure for doctors in underserved areas and increasing the training pathways for dental hygienists.
The Nevada Healthcare Access Act also seeks to modernize Medicaid access by integrating electronic health records with Medicaid systems and expanding presumptive eligibility for vulnerable groups in the state, removing barriers.
The legislative session in Nevada ended on June 3, 2025, so the future of the Nevada Healthcare Access Act is up in the air.
Nevada AB 204
On June 12 Governor Lombardo vetoed a bill that would have made it harder to collect medical debt in the state. Nevada AB 204 would have prohibited a provider or collection agency from “engaging in extraordinary collection actions until at least 180 days after the first bill for a medical debt is sent to a consumer.”
The bill defined extraordinary collection actions as:
- Selling medical debt to a collection agency.
- Any action that requires a legal or judicial process except for placing a lien on third party settlements.
- Reporting, furnishing or threatening to report or furnish any information regarding a medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.
- Garnishing or threatening to garnish the wages of a consumer.
An existing law in Nevada, SB 248, requires debt collectors to provide consumers with a 60-day notice of placement or assignment before taking action to collect medical debt. The law also requires that the 60-day notice must be sent by certified or registered mail and places limitations on lawsuits, restraints on credit reporting medical debt, and a cap on collection fees that creditors may collect on delinquent medical debt balances sent to legal collections.
Americollect will continue to monitor Nevada SB 495 in case it moves forward in a special session.
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