Committee approves ordinance enabling county to collect hospital medical‑debt data in Los Angeles City

The Arts, Parks, Libraries and Community Enrichment Committee on Jan. 13 approved a draft ordinance to let the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health collect and analyze hospital data on medical‑debt collection and financial‑assistance activity from hospitals operating within the City of Los Angeles.

Melina Budov of the County Department of Public Health told the committee the measure would require hospitals to share both aggregate information — such as application counts and denial rates — and individual‑level accounts sent to collections, allowing the county to income‑match and identify missed opportunities for financial assistance. "Our department analysis revealed that 1 in 9 LA County adults carry burdensome medical debt, totaling over $2,900,000,000 in 2023," Budov said. She added that the county has already used a parallel approach in unincorporated areas and that reporting would be provided at no cost to the city.

Budov said the ordinance relies on existing secure reporting portals and does not collect citizenship status or protected health information: "Privacy is protected in that the portal is HIPAA compliant and there is no healthcare information collected whatsoever." Joshua Webberowski, also with county Government Affairs, added that 11 hospitals in the county are already reporting and that extending the ordinance would require about 34 additional hospitals located in the City to participate.

Council member Hernandez praised the proposal and asked about outcomes; Budov said the county has partnered with a national nonprofit to buy and retire unpaid medical debt, and "to date, we have purchased and retired $363,000,000 worth of medical debt, for over 171,000 Angelenos households." Committee members pressed on data security and the county described existing encryption and privacy practices used for other public‑health reporting.

County staff also described the Medical Debt Coalition, a partnership of hospitals, legal aid and community organizations that works on debt relief and prevention; staff invited additional city participation. The committee approved Item 2 by roll call (Gerardo, Hernandez and Nazarian voting yes).

Next steps: with committee approval the ordinance moves forward for subsequent Council review and any necessary implementation planning between city staff and County Public Health.