Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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New Mexico program

Protection from hospital collections (Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act)

New Mexico law protects patients during billing reviews and limits collections against qualifying low-income patients.

What it is

New Mexico law protects patients during billing reviews and limits collections against qualifying low-income patients.

Collection action pauses during screening and while financial status or an insurance or assistance application is under review. A written low-income finding gives further protection for 24 months. Neither protection automatically cancels the balance.

Eligibility rules
  • Household income must not exceed 200% of federal poverty. The patient definition includes a parent or legal guardian of a minor patient.
  • Having insurance does not exclude a patient from this protection.
  • The January 13, 2026 reference amounts at 200% of poverty are $4,554 monthly for three people and $5,500 for four.
What you get
  • No liens, bank-account seizures, lawsuits or wage garnishment after the required low-income finding.
  • Existing collection actions must be terminated when you qualify.
  • A pause in collection action while screening or an insurance or assistance review is pending.
What this includes
  • The facility must offer screening before seeking payment for emergency or medically necessary care. Collection action must pause during screening and while the patient’s financial status or insurance or financial-assistance application is under review or in process. This pause does not itself erase the bill.
  • Every bill must describe the date, amount and nature of the charges in plain language.
  • Selling an indigent patient’s medical debt is among the prohibited collection actions. A pending review does not remove a separate deadline to respond to court papers.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the billing office for a written review under the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act.
  2. Have household income proof, bills and collection letters ready. The financial counselor can help with the request.

The hospital determines indigency; the Attorney General enforces the act · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • The hospital makes the indigency finding. The Attorney General enforces the act.
  • The implementing rule requires written results within 30 days after the indigency determination and no later than 60 days after the process began. An indigency finding is valid for 24 months. The financial counselor can help document the request and raise continued prohibited collection activity with the New Mexico Attorney General.
Good to know

Stopping collections does not cancel the balance. The hospital’s own financial assistance is a separate question.

Other details
  • The rule covers medical creditors and debt collectors as well as facility billing. It uses Medicaid household and income methods, permits a signed income-and-household attestation and makes an indigency finding valid for 24 months. The written notice must explain the right to complain to the New Mexico Attorney General.
  • The financial counselor can check credit-reporting and interest terms for the particular debt. A pending application does not by itself establish a universal credit-reporting ban or interest-free terms.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the hospital’s collection protection apply to us? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and could you help us request the written review if it fits?”

Why I’m asking: We want to understand our rights before agreeing to pay a hospital balance.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Write to the billing office, name the act and give proof of household income.

Your social worker

The financial counsellor can start the determination and pause the account.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital makes the determination; the Attorney General enforces the law.
Ask the billing office
“Our household income is at or under twice the federal poverty level. Please determine us indigent under the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act and stop collection.”

How to apply

First step: Write to the billing office naming the act and asking to be determined an indigent patient.

  1. Write to the billing office and ask to be determined an indigent patient under the act.
  2. Ask for the plain-language itemised bill the law requires.
  3. If collections continue anyway, tell the Attorney General’s office.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Tell the billing office in writing that your household income is at or under twice the poverty level and ask to be determined indigent under the act.

What to gather

  • Proof of household income
  • Every bill and collection letter so far

How long: Written results are due within 30 days after the indigency determination and no later than 60 days after the process began. The finding is valid for 24 months under 13.10.39 NMAC, effective December 28, 2021.

What a yes looks like

A written determination and collection actions ending.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Collections carrying on. Tell the Attorney General’s office, which enforces the act.

Watch out

  • It stops the collection, it does not cancel the balance. Ask for the hospital’s own assistance as well.
  • Being insured does not take you out of it: the test is household income.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

At or under twice the poverty guideline, $5,500 a month for four people, hospital collection actions must stop and existing ones must end.

  • $5,500/month — Household of 4, twice the poverty guideline
  • $4,554/month — Household of 3, twice the poverty guideline

Legal protection: No liens, no seizing a bank account, no lawsuit and no wage garnishment once you are determined indigent · Existing collection actions must be terminated on that determination · The facility must offer to verify your insurance and to screen an uninsured patient for public programmes and its own assistance before seeking payment · Every bill must describe the date, amount and nature of the charges in plain language

What it costs the family: Free: it is a right, not an application for money.

The eligibility facts, as published

Income
household income that does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level
Who
the patient, including the parent or legal guardian of a minor who was treated
Insurance
the definition does not exclude an insured patient

The trap: Insurance does not take you out of it. The definition says household income, not uninsured, and a patient includes the parent or guardian of the child who was treated.

Where I read this

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