S. 1688: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the full disclosure of billing and service information to patients.

116th Congress · introduced 2019-05-23 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-05-23 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the full disclosure of billing and service information to patients.

Plain summary

This bill establishes certain requirements relating to health care billing practices. Specifically, the bill requires health care facilities and practitioners to (1) provide patients with a list of rendered services upon discharge, and (2) send all bills to patients within 30 business days. Further, patients may not be required to pay a bill earlier than 30 business days from the date of receipt. Facilities and practitioners must report any bills that are sent outside of the authorized time period to the Department of Health and Human Services and must also issue refunds to the patients billed; repeated violations are subject to civil penalties.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the full disclosure of billing and service information to patients.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s1688.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s1688 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116