S. 1624 (111th): Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009

Introduced:
Aug 06, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on August 6, 2009, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Aug 06, 2009
Referred to Committee Aug 06, 2009
Cosponsors
6 cosponsors (5D, 1I) (show)
Committees

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to amend title 11 of the United States Code, to provide protection for medical debt homeowners, to restore bankruptcy protections for individuals experiencing economic distress as caregivers to ill, injured, or disabled family members, and to exempt from means testing debtors whose financial problems were caused by serious medical problems, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Aug 06, 2009.
6 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

8/6/2009--Introduced.
Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009 - Amends federal bankruptcy law to cite circumstances under which a medically distressed debtor may elect to exempt from the property of the estate in bankruptcy up to $250,000 of the debtor's aggregate interest in specified real or personal property that the debtor (or debtor's dependent) uses as a residence, in a cooperative, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent.
Revises requirements for dismissal or conversion of a Chapter 7 case to prohibit the court or specified parties in interest from filing a motion to dismiss or convert to Chapter 11 or 13 if the debtor is a medically distressed debtor.
Waives the credit counseling prerequisite for filing for relief from debt in the case of a medically distressed debtor.
Denies a discharge in bankruptcy from any debt incurred that relates to attorneys' fees generated as a result of the debtor's filing of a Chapter 7 petition.
Requires a debtor who seeks relief as a medically distressed debtor to attest in writing, and under penalty of perjury, that the medical expenses of the debtor are genuine, and not specifically incurred to bring the debtor within the coverage of the medical bankruptcy provisions of this Act.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)