# Washington — State limits on medical debt interest, garnishment and lawsuits

For Washington, statute is RCW 70.54.470; limit on selling the debt or garnishing wages is No health care provider or health care facility may sell or assign medical debt to any person licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW until at least one hundred twenty days after the initial billing statement for that medical debt has been transmitted to the patient or other responsible party; notes is (c) "Medical debt" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 19.16.100 , verified against its source on 2026-08-31.

- **State:** Washington _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Statute:** RCW 70.54.470 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Limit on selling the debt or garnishing wages:** No health care provider or health care facility may sell or assign medical debt to any person licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW until at least one hundred twenty days after the initial billing statement for that medical debt has been transmitted to the patient or other responsible party. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Notes:** (c) "Medical debt" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 19.16.100 . _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_

## What the source says

> RCW 70.54.470 Medical debt—Limits on sale or assignment. (1) No health care provider or health care facility may sell or assign medical debt to any person licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW until at least one hundred twenty days after the initial billing statement for that medical debt has been transmitted to the patient or other responsible party.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Limit on selling the debt or garnishing wages

> No health care provider or health care facility may sell or assign medical debt to any person licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW until at least one hundred twenty days after the initial billing statement for that medical debt has been transmitted to the patient or other responsible party.

### Notes

> (2) For the purposes of this section: (a) "Health care facility" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 70.02.010 . (b) "Health care provider" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 70.02.010 . (c) "Medical debt" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 19.16.100 .

## Source

- https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70.54.470

Last verified: 2026-08-31. Review by: 2026-12-29.
Part of [State limits on medical debt interest, garnishment and lawsuits](https://referencesource.org/medical-debt-collection-restrictions-by-state/).