By Mary Jo Pitzl || Arizona Republic
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has denied an effort to overturn Arizona’s Proposition 209, a statewide ballot measure that backers billed as protecting consumers from bankruptcy and poverty from medical debt.
Proposition 209, which voters passed by an overwhelming margin last month, reduces the maximum interest rate on medical debt, among other consumer debt protections.
The ballot initiative, titled the Predatory Debt Collection Act, is now fully in effect as law, Jim Barton, an attorney for Proposition 209 proponents from Healthcare Rising Arizona, said Thursday.
However, a coalition of debt collectors who challenged the measure as unconstitutional signaled Thursday it will appeal the ruling.
Portions of Proposition 209 had been on hold since Dec. 7, putting some rules over debt collection in Arizona in question.
