this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024
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The Biden administration is moving to ban medical debt from credit reports.

Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the proposed rule, taken through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would reduce the number of Americans with medical debt listed on their credit reports to zero, down from 46 million in 2020.

In a press call Tuesday, Harris said the move would help improve the financial health and wellbeing of millions of Americans.

Medical debt, she said, "makes it more difficult to get by, much less get ahead. That is simply not fair."

The administration calculates that if implemented, the rule would raise affected individuals' credit scores by an average of 20 points, and could lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages every year as a result of the cleaned-up credit reports

A recent study estimated that one in five U.S. households live with medical debt, including people with health insurance; and that on average, a typical American household owes about $4,600 in medical debts.

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[–] bhmnscmm@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Could you expand on why this makes such a big difference? I'm not very knowledgeable in this area. Is medical debt treated differently than other debts by lenders?

My first thought was that medical debt, like any other debt, has financial obligations that lenders would have to know about to determine the amount of credit a person is eligible for. Wouldn't medical debt payments impact the amount of additional debt you can afford?

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 48 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The significant difference is that medical debt in the US is not usually elective. I can choose to sign up for a credit card, or I can choose to apply for a house/car loan, or I can choose to go to college, or I can choose to start a business. Are you gonna choose to ignore going to the ER when you break your arm, or are having chest pains, or are airlifted after a drunk driver T-bones your car? Are you gonna refuse your child's chemotherapy or dialysis treatments?

The US medical system is fucked up from top to bottom.

(Also note I'm not commenting on whether elective debt in the US is fair, only highlighting the difference between medical debt and other debts.)

[–] Today@lemmy.world 31 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It ends up on your credit report while you're trying work it out between the hospital and the insurance company. Phone calls to one, phone calls to the other, and then, if you get it worked out, you have to file a claim with each credit reporting agency to get it removed. It's like a full time job. And, once you get it cleared up with the hospital, you have to do the same with every medical person involved.

[–] bhmnscmm@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for explaining. I've been fortunate enough to avoid major medical expenses or debt, so I hadn't thought of the situation you've described.