She won’t officially give her State of the State speech until next week, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced many of the components that she will address in her remarks, including expanding consumer protections and a plan to introduce legislation that limits medical debt collection in the Empire State.
Expanding UDAAP: Calling it the most “significant expansion of consumer laws” in more than four decades, Gov. Hochul plans to amend current legislation to add unfair and abusive practices that are banned in the state. New York is one of only eight states that currently only protects consumers from deceptive business practices. The proposed legislation will “enhance” the Attorney General’s ability to enforce the laws and give the state new tools to go after bad actors.
BNPL Licensing: Gov. Hochul will also propose a requirement that all Buy Now, Pay Later lenders need a license to operate in the state, which will help it “establish strong industry protections around disclosure requirements, dispute resolution and credit reporting standards, late fee limits, consumer data privacy, and guidelines to curtail dark patterns and debt accumulation and overextension.”
Medical Debt Changes: The governor plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit hospitals’ from being able to sue patients for unpaid debts if the patient earns less than 400% of the federal poverty level, while also expanding financial assistance programs, limiting the size of monthly payments that can be required, and reducing the interest on medical debt.
The Last Word: “If the last two years have been about putting more money in New Yorkers’ pockets, this year is about keeping it there and that starts with safeguarding people’s hard-earned cash,” Gov. Hochul said in a statement.
