II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5399 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to provide bankruptcy protections 

for medically distressed debtors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. LUJA ́N, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to provide bankruptcy protections for medically distressed debtors, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medical Bankruptcy 

5 Fairness Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of title 11, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after paragraph (39A) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(39B) The term ‘medical debt’ means any 

4 debt incurred voluntarily or involuntarily— 

5 ‘‘(A) as a result of the diagnosis, cure, 

6 mitigation, or treatment of injury, deformity, or 

7 disease of an individual; or 

8 ‘‘(B) for services performed by a medical 

9 professional for the prevention of disease or ill10 ness in an individual. 

11 ‘‘(39C) The term ‘medically distressed debtor’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a debtor who, during the 3-year pe14 riod preceding the date of the filing of the peti15 tion— 

16 ‘‘(i) incurred or paid aggregate med17 ical debt for the debtor, a dependent of the 

18 debtor, or a nondependent parent, grand19 parent, sibling, child, grandchild, or spouse 

20 of the debtor that was not paid by any 

21 third-party payor and was greater than the 

22 lesser of— 

23 ‘‘(I) 10 percent of the adjusted 

24 gross income (as such term is defined 


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1 in section 62 of the Internal Revenue 

2 Code of 1986) of the debtor; or 

3 ‘‘(II) $10,000; 

4 ‘‘(ii) did not receive domestic support 

5 obligations, or had a spouse or dependent 

6 who did not receive domestic support obli7 gations, of at least $10,000 due to a med8 ical issue of the individual obligated to pay 

9 that would cause the obligor to meet the 

10 requirements under clause (i) or (iii), if the 

11 obligor was a debtor in a case under this 

12 title; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) experienced a change in employ14 ment status that resulted in a reduction in 

15 wages, salaries, commissions, or work 

16 hours or resulted in unemployment due 

17 to— 

18 ‘‘(I) an injury, deformity, or dis19 ease of the debtor; 

20 ‘‘(II) care for an injured, de21 formed, or ill dependent or non22 dependent parent, grandparent, sib23 ling, child, grandchild, or spouse of 

24 the debtor; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) the national emergency de2 clared by the President under the Na3 tional Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

4 1601 et seq.) with respect to the 

5 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID– 

6 19) or another emergency declared by 

7 a Federal, State, or local official relat8 ing to a public health crisis; or 

9 ‘‘(B) a debtor who is the spouse of a debt10 or described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 104 of 

12 title 11, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

14 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘101(39C)(A),’’ after 

15 ‘‘101(19A),’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting 

17 ‘‘101(39C)(A),’’ after ‘‘101(19A),’’. 

18 SEC. 3. EXEMPTIONS. 

19 (a) EXEMPT PROPERTY.—Section 522 of title 11, 

20 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(r)(1) If a medically distressed debtor exempts prop23 erty listed in subsection (b)(2), the debtor may, in lieu 

24 of the exemption provided under subsection (d)(1), elect 

25 to exempt the aggregate interest of the debtor, not to exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5399.IS S5399

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1 ceed $250,000 in value, in property described in para2 graph (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) If a medically distressed debtor exempts prop4 erty listed in subsection (b)(3) and the exemption provided 

5 under applicable law for the kind of property described 

6 in paragraph (3) is for less than $250,000 in value, the 

7 debtor may elect to exempt the aggregate interest of the 

8 debtor, not to exceed $250,000 in value, in any such prop9 erty. 

10 ‘‘(3) The property described in this paragraph is— 

11 ‘‘(A) real property or personal property that the 

12 debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a resi13 dence; 

14 ‘‘(B) a cooperative that owns property that the 

15 debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a resi16 dence; or 

17 ‘‘(C) a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent 

18 of the debtor.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 104 of 

20 title 11, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

22 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘522(r),’’ after 

23 ‘‘522(q),’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘522(r),’’ 

25 after ‘‘522(q),’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. WAIVER OF ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) CASE UNDER CHAPTER 7.—Section 707(b) of 

3 title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(8) Paragraph (2) does not apply in any case 

6 in which the debtor is a medically distressed debt7 or.’’. 

8 (b) CASE UNDER CHAPTER 13.—Section 1325(b)(1) 

9 of title 11, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

13 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(C) the debtor is a medically distressed 

16 debtor.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. CREDIT COUNSELING. 

18 Section 109(h)(4) of title 11, United States Code, is 

19 amended by inserting ‘‘a medically distressed debtor or’’ 

20 after ‘‘apply with respect to’’. 

21 SEC. 6. STUDENT LOAN UNDUE HARDSHIP. 

22 Section 523(a)(8) of title 11, United States Code, is 

23 amended by inserting ‘‘the debtor is a medically distressed 

24 debtor, or’’ before ‘‘excepting’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. ATTESTATION BY DEBTOR. 

2 Section 521 of title 11, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(k) If the debtor seeks relief as a medically dis5 tressed debtor, the debtor shall file a statement of medical 

6 expenses relevant to the determination of whether the 

7 debtor is a medically distressed debtor, which shall declare 

8 under penalty of perjury that such medical expenses were 

9 not incurred for the purpose of bringing the debtor within 

10 the meaning of the term ‘medically distressed debtor’.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

12 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub13 section (b), this Act and the amendments made by this 

14 Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend16 ments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to 

17 cases commenced under title 11, United States Code, on 

18 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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