Magaziner Applauds Proposed Rule to Ban Medical Bills from Credit Reports
Representative Seth Magaziner released the following statement following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to ban medical bills from credit reports:
“For months, Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and I have been meeting with the Biden administration to advocate for removing medical debt from credit scores, and I am pleased to see that they have listened,” said Rep. Magaziner. “This proposed rule will help ensure credit scores will not be destroyed from an illness or trip to the emergency room and will provide breathing room for millions of working people.”
In December 2023, Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) and Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) led 57 Members of Congress in a letter urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to move swiftly to prevent creditors from using information about Americans’ medical debt to determine credit worthiness.
Medical debt is not a reliable predictor of overall financial well-being, and unfair debt collection and coercive credit reporting practices have put a financial strain on millions of Americans. Medical bills are also frequently subject to coding errors, charity care mistakes, or complexities with insurance. Diminished credit scores caused by medical debt could make it more difficult for working people to get a job, buy a house or car, or start a small business.
Research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2022 showed that medical collections tradelines appeared on 43 million credit reports, and that 58 percent of bills that were in collections and on people’s credit records were medical bills. This proposed rule would help raise credit scores for 15 million Americans by an average of 20 points and may lead to approximately 22,000 additional home loans every year.
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