The Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to remove medical bills from Americans’ credit reports in a push to end what it called coercive debt collection tactics that affect millions of consumers.

Proposals under consideration would help families financially recover from medical crises, stop debt collectors from coercing people into paying bills they may not even owe, and ensure that creditors are not relying on data that is often plagued with inaccuracies and mistakes, Vice President Kamala Harris and Rohit Chopra, the top consumer finance watchdog, announced.

Harris told reporters that more than 100 million Americans had unpaid medical debt.

“Many of the debts people have accrued are due to medical emergencies,” she said. “We know credit scores determine whether a person can have economic health and wellbeing, much less the ability to grow their wealth.”

Chopra’s agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reported last year that roughly 20% of Americans have medical debt, but CFPB said its data also showed medical billing data is a poor indicator of whether consumers’ are likely to pay down traditional debts.

The Brookings Institution think tank also found big gaps in medical debt statistics, with some 80% of debt held by households with zero or negative net worth, and communities of color hit especially hard. For instance, 27% of Black households hold medical debt compared with 16.8% of non-Black households.

According to the CFPB, the Fair Credit Reporting Act restricts the use of medical information in credit decisions and credit reports. The agency on Thursday announced policy outlines that could give rise to new regulations.

  • Rhaedas@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Didn’t go that far in my point, but it’s much less than we could do. I’ve found “better than nothing” is a way to sell acceptance of not enough done.

      • Cataphract
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        1 year ago

        I’m confused by this statement because you’re making it seem like it’s some tech we’re trying to develop to reach the stars or something. There’s already so many examples of countries with healthcare (Norway was 1912, shesh). Majority of Americans want universal health care, there is already a system in place with medicaid/medicare that can be expanded upon, and with the article we’re all commenting under there are obvious life-long impacts people are suffering from that’s not even health issues from the current system.

        You’re making it seem like the fight has just begun, this has been ongoing for decades. Asking everyone to “keep up the good fight” and enjoy the incremental change seems like a place of privilege when everyone is suffering.