In California, the medical debt statute of limitations is four years. A hospital, clinic, physician, or debt buyer generally has four years from the date of the bill to file a lawsuit to collect on a medical account. Miss that window, and the debt becomes time-barred: a court will dismiss a collection suit filed after it closes if you raise the expired limitations period as a defense.
How the Four-Year Clock Runs
The four-year period comes from Section 337 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, which governs actions on written contracts and obligations.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 337 California courts apply it to most medical debt, counting from the date of the bill.
There is one wrinkle. When you have an ongoing account with the same provider — multiple visits, repeated charges, running balance — the “open book” rule can push the starting point to the date of the last service rendered rather than the date of an earlier bill. For a one-off emergency room visit or a single procedure, the clock typically runs from that bill. For an account with a provider you’ve seen repeatedly over time, the last date of service may be what counts.
Does a Partial Payment Restart the Clock?
This is the question that trips people up, and the answer depends on whether the four years have already run.
Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 360, the only way to revive a medical debt whose limitations period has already expired is a new written promise to pay, signed by you. A partial payment on an expired debt does not, by itself, restart the four years. Verbal acknowledgments don’t either.
Debts that are still within the four-year window are a different story. A payment on a promissory note can restart the clock on an unexpired debt, which means paying a little toward an old bill that still has time left on it can hand the creditor a fresh four years to sue. Before putting any money toward an old medical balance, work out roughly when the bill was issued and whether the limitations period may still be running. If you’re not sure, don’t pay until you’ve checked.
What “Time-Barred” Actually Means
Once the four years have run, Section 337 states directly that no one may bring a lawsuit, arbitration, or other legal proceeding to collect the debt.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 337 The debt is called “time-barred.” You cannot be successfully sued on it.
The underlying debt itself does not vanish. Collectors can still send letters and make phone calls about a time-barred balance, as long as they follow both federal and state collection rules. What they cannot do is misrepresent your legal situation. Telling you that you have to pay, or threatening to sue when the limitations period has run, crosses into conduct prohibited by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code Section 1812.700
The Rosenthal Act matters here because, unlike the federal FDCPA, it also covers original creditors. A hospital billing office calling you about an expired balance is bound by it even though the hospital isn’t a third-party collector.
If You’re Sued on an Old Medical Bill
The expired statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, which means you have to raise it. If you ignore the lawsuit, the court can enter a default judgment against you even on a time-barred debt. Respond to the summons on time, state that the limitations period has expired, and the court will dismiss the case.
If a third-party collector contacted you about the debt before the lawsuit, they were required to send a written validation notice within five days of first contact, listing the amount owed and the creditor. A written dispute within 30 days of that notice forces the collector to stop and verify the debt. That pause is worth using even if you think the debt is yours, because the paperwork a collector produces will often tell you exactly when the original bill was issued — the fact you need to pin down the limitations date.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code Section 1812.700
If the Creditor Sued in Time and Won
A lawsuit filed within the four-year window changes the picture. If the creditor wins, the court enters a money judgment, and the four-year clock is replaced by the rules that govern judgments. The creditor can then pursue wage garnishment and bank levies.
California wage garnishment is capped at the lesser of 25 percent of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your weekly earnings exceed 40 times the state minimum hourly wage. At incomes near minimum wage, there may be nothing available to garnish. For medical debt specifically, Code of Civil Procedure Section 706.051 lets you file a claim of exemption from wage garnishment. The court can reduce or eliminate the garnishment based on your financial circumstances.
Interest on a medical debt judgment also runs at a lower rate than most consumer judgments. For judgments under $200,000, the rate is 5 percent, and the judgment can be renewed only once, for five years. For judgments of $200,000 or more, the standard 10 percent rate and 10-year renewal period apply. These reduced rates apply to judgments entered or renewed on or after January 1, 2023.3California Courts. Judgment Renewals and Interest Rates
A Note on Credit Reports
The statute of limitations controls lawsuits, not credit reporting, and the two are easy to confuse. Since January 1, 2025, a separate California law, Senate Bill 1061, has made it illegal for medical debt of any amount to appear on a Californian’s credit report. The California Attorney General has stated: “In California, it is illegal for medical debt to appear on your credit report.”4California Attorney General. In California, It Remains Illegal for Medical Debt to Appear on Credit Reports If you find medical debt on your credit report, dispute it with the credit bureau and report the violation to the Attorney General’s office. That protection applies regardless of whether the four-year limitations period has run.