House bill · 119th Congress · Latest step: Introduced
Patient Debt Relief Act
Official title: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish certain standards and requirements with respect to financial assistance and medical debt collection for hospitals participating in the Medicare program, and to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program for purposes of medical debt relief.
Sponsor: Rep. Gabe Vasquez D-NMWhere it went
- IntroducedFeb 10, 2026
- Committee action—
- Passed House—
- Passed Senate—
- To the President—
- Became law—
Latest action: Feb 10, 2026 — Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Cost and committee reports
Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 7478.
- Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Mr. VASQUEZ, as printed in the Congressional Record (Vol. 172, No. 28, February 10, 2026, Page H2119):Article 1, section 8, Clauses 1 and 18 of the United States Constitution, to provide for the general welfare and make all laws necessary and proper to carry out the powers of the Congress.Source: Congress.gov, Congressional Record February 10, 2026 ↗
Evidence
- Field in the Congress.gov record
- constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
- Statement length
- 188 characters
- Congress.gov bill record
- H.R. 7478, 119th Congress
- Congress.gov API record
- https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/7478
- Record last updated by Congress.gov
- February 27, 2026
- PORKER copy retrieved
- September 13, 2026
- Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
939e9912118c4676fa00ff6ae4018f07cdd5b43929fe0df21d40e3aff78f665e
PORKER shows the statement exactly as printed, with the page markup removed. It is the sponsor’s claim; it is not a legal finding.
Congress.gov’s record for this bill does not list a CBO cost estimate or a committee report (as of February 27, 2026). Not every bill gets one.
From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 7478, last updated February 27, 2026. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 13, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.
Vote results
No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).
Cosponsors
18 cosponsors — 18 Democrats
0 of 18 cosponsors (0%) are from the other party.
Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Angie Craig (D-MN), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Jesús García (D-IL), Daniel Goldman (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Eleanor Norton (D-DC), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Shri Thanedar (D-MI).
More from the sponsor
Other 119th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Gabe Vasquez.
Sponsor’s state and district
Data as of Sep 13, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.