Hi,

Medical debt is crushing millions of Americans. Beyond the money owed for
necessary procedures and life-saving health care, this debt also has a
disastrous impact on peoples’ credit reports.

The overpaid CEOs at credit reporting companies Equifax, TransUnion, and
Experian have refused to remove medical bills from consumer credit
reports.^1 The position of these rich CEOs is: if people in America get
sick, and go into medical debt, it’s OK for them to also have a harder
time accessing housing, employment, and much more as a result. That’s what
happens with bad credit.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just released a draft rule
to stop credit reporting companies from including unpaid medical debt on
credit reports. In order for this rule to be finalized, the CFPB needs to
hear support from the public!

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Submit an official comment to the CFPB in support of
its draft rule to keep medical debt off credit reports!

ADD YOUR NAME

The CFPB estimates at least $88 billion in medical debt appears on
American credit reports. They believe the total amount of medical debt may
be even higher.^2

To make it worse, information about medical debt is often plagued with
inaccuracies and errors due to the complexity of medical billing. In fact,
many consumers do not find out about an erroneous medical bill in
collections before being denied a mortgage, car loan, or credit card based
on their consumer report.

Another important part of the CFPB’s draft rule is that debt collectors
will be barred from using medical devices as loan collateral. This would
protect consumers from having their wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs
repossessed if the debt goes unpaid.^3 Shockingly, lending companies do
re-possess medical devices from people who need them.

The proposed CFPB rule is long overdue and is vital for protecting
consumers from predatory credit reporting companies and lenders.

[ [link removed] ]Add your name: Take medical debt off credit reports!

Thanks for taking action,

Joey and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:

 1. Nevada Current, "Credit bureau CEOs face tough questions at Senate
hearing; Democrats push to remove medical debt," [ [link removed] ]April 28, 2023.
 2. CFPB, "CFPB Proposes to Ban Medical Bills from Credit Reports,"
[ [link removed] ]June 11, 2024.
 3. Ibid.
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