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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10373 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10373

     To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit the 
    garnishment of wages in relation to medical debt, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2026

Mr. Scott of Virginia (for himself, Ms. Omar, and Mr. Casar) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                             and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit the 
    garnishment of wages in relation to medical debt, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Workers' Wages from 
Medical Debt Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON WAGE GARNISHMENT FOR MEDICAL DEBTS.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 7 the following:

``SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON WAGE GARNISHMENT FOR MEDICAL DEBTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
wages of an employee may be subject to garnishment for the payment of 
any medical debt.
    ``(b) Prohibition on Courts and States.--No court of the United 
States or any State, and no State (or officer or agency thereof), may 
make, execute, or enforce any order or process in violation of this 
section.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Garnishment.--The term `garnishment' means any legal 
        or equitable procedure through which the wages of any 
        individual are required to be withheld for payment of any 
        medical debt.
            ``(2) Medical debt.--.The term `medical debt' means a debt 
        arising from the furnishing of items and services by a health 
        care facility or health care provider (as defined in section 
        101(6) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 
        2611(6)).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 10 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 210) is repealed.
    (c) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect on the date that is 
6 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
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Protecting Workers' Wages from Medical Debt Act

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