--- title: White House Plans to Ban All Medical Debt From Credit Reports description: The Biden administration announced a proposal to ban medical debt from credit reports, while pushing for the cancellation of medical debt. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 497 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2024-06-11T21:20:12.000Z' modified: '2024-10-24T13:40:46.000Z' section: Economy and Politics word_count: 636 canonical: https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Kamala Harris and Rohit Chopra](https://img.money.com/2024/06/News-Medical-Debt.jpg) *Kamala Harris and Rohit Chopra* The Biden administration is proposing to bar medical debt from credit reports, while also calling for the cancellation of medical debt for millions of Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris and [Director Rohit Chopra](https://money.com/changemakers/rohit-chopra/) of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unveiled a new [rule proposal](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/notice-opportunities-comment/open-notices/prohibition-on-creditors-and-consumer-reporting-agencies-concerning-medical-information-regulation-v/) on Tuesday, which could increase the [credit scores](https://money.com/what-is-a-credit-score/) of some Americans by 20 points or more by excluding all medical debts from their credit reports. “Medical debt on a consumer credit report is just so different than a mortgage, auto loan or credit card,” Chopra said on a call with reporters. “Like a visit to the emergency room, the debt is taken on unexpectedly and in a time of crisis.” ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Fbiden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports%2F) For that reason, the Biden administration argues that medical debt should not be a consideration when lenders are determining whether to issue a loan. “In this way, the credit reporting system is more closely resembling a weapon for debt collectors rather than a tool for lenders to accept someone's likelihood to repay a loan,” Chopra said. In March 2022, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax agreed to remove [all *paid* medical debts and *unpaid* debts of $500](https://money.com/medical-debt-removed-from-credit-report/) or below from credit reports following pressure from the CFPB. Those changes were implemented in July 2022 and April 2023, respectively. Still, larger debts plagued the credit of millions of Americans. If the new rule goes into effect, the CFPB estimates it would remove upwards of $49 billion of remaining medical debt from the reports of 15 million Americans. The proposal is undergoing [an official rulemaking process](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/notice-opportunities-comment/open-notices/prohibition-on-creditors-and-consumer-reporting-agencies-concerning-medical-information-regulation-v/) by the CFPB. The agency is accepting public comments on its proposals until August 12 before finalizing a rule. Following that, the rule will be in effect “at some time early next year,” an official estimated. That said, the rule (in any form) is not guaranteed as it could be challenged in court. So far, the credit reporting industry has been at least somewhat cooperative by removing some medical debts from credit reports without the need of regulation. However, the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group that represents the credit bureaus, said in a statement to Money that “this is a complex issue” and it will need to review the proposal more closely before weighing in. ## A call to forgive medical debt While removing medical debt from credit reports blunts the impact such debt can take on the financial lives of Americans, the people involved are still responsible for paying what’s legally owed. In a more direct effort to eliminate medical debt entirely, Harris called on states, local governments and health care providers to forgive the medical debt of struggling Americans. She highlighted a variety of local-level initiatives already in effect to cancel $7 billion of medical debt for some 3 million Americans. Some states like Arizona, Connecticut and New Jersey are using funds from the American Rescue Plan to purchase the medical debt of its residents and forgive it. Local areas such as Cook County, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Orange County, Florida, and a handful of other cities and counties are doing the same. Biden administration officials said the debt forgiveness initiative is a “voluntary contract” between local governments and health care providers and should not run into any legal problems. While it is not mandatory, Harris rallied other parts of the country to get involved. “Today, I'm issuing a call to states, cities and hospitals across our nation to join us in forgiving medical debt,” she said. Already, Harris said $650 million of medical debt has been wiped out and there are plans for another $7 billion to be forgiven by 2026. ## Debt Relief won't fix all your debt problems, but can be a good option for some consumers ### If you owe $20,000 or more in debt, Accredited Debt Relief can help you lessen the amount you owe and make managing your debt easier. [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/m1e2f956a305?ap_referrer=%2Fbiden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Fbiden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Politics", "item": "https://money.com/politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "White House Plans to Ban All Medical Debt From Credit Reports" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/", "name": "White House Plans to Ban All Medical Debt From Credit Reports", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-06-11T21:20:12.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/biden-ban-medical-debt-credit-reports/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-10-24T13:40:46.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "White House Plans to Ban All Medical Debt From Credit Reports", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/06/News-Medical-Debt.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Medical-Debt" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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