--- title: Have Medical Debt? Your Credit Score Could Increase Under New Policy description: The CFPB has banned medical information from being used in lending and credit reporting decisions. Credit scores could rise as a result. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. Through approachable guides, explainers, news and more, Adam has reported extensively on credit for Money. His credit coverage won an award from the nonprofit Money Management International. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Credit - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - 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: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: A graduate of the University of Florida, Julia has more than eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. In addition to overseeing Money’s news coverage, she frequently reports on the ins and outs of credit scores, the credit bureaus and free credit reports. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Credit - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2025-01-07T21:47:15.000Z' modified: '2025-01-08T15:27:56.000Z' section: Credit tags: - News word_count: 797 canonical: https://money.com/medical-debt-banned-from-credit-reports/ type: NewsArticle 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/). ![Photo collage of a stethoscope on top of a credit card, and a pair of hands on top of a credit score wheel](https://img.money.com/2025/01/News-Credit-Score-Change-Medical-Debt.jpg) Millions of Americans may soon see their credit scores increase as new federal policies bar lenders and credit reporting companies from holding one’s unpaid medical bills against them. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule on Tuesday that bans medical information from being used in lending and credit reporting decisions. The CFPB estimates that 15 million Americans could see their [credit scores](https://money.com/how-to-check-your-credit-score/) rise by an average of 20 points once the policy takes effect, which is expected to be in mid-March. “People who get sick shouldn’t have their financial future upended,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a news release about [the new rule](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/). ## Don't let a mistake from the past hold you back ### Credit Saint can help you remove negative items from your credit report and get your financial future back on track. Select your state to get started today! [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/mc7163d7d8b6?ap_referrer=%2Fmedical-debt-banned-from-credit-reports%2F) In April 2023, the big three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — already [removed medical debts under $500](https://money.com/medical-debt-removed-from-credit-report/) from credit reports, in a self-regulatory move that they say wiped out 70% of the medical bills that were plaguing people’s credit. Still, the CFPB found that about $50 billion of medical debt remained on the [credit reports](https://money.com/how-to-check-your-credit-report/) of millions of Americans afterward. Credit scores and the reports they're based on are commonly used as a way for lenders, landlords and employers to quickly check whether a person is likely to repay their debts. The watchdog agency says that medical debt is a particularly bad predictor of people’s ability to repay a loan because the debt is rarely taken on voluntarily. Medical debt, the agency says, can have lingering and debilitating effects that keep Americans from the loans, housing and even jobs they need to survive. A [2023 report](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/a-father-dreamed-of-a-home-for-his-family-medical-debt-nearly-pushed-them-onto-the-streets/) from the health policy nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that medical debt was a major contributing factor for thousands of Denver residents facing homelessness or housing instability. Later that year, Colorado became the first state to bar medical debt from blemishing residents’ credit reports. California and New York quickly followed suit. Now, the entire U.S. appears to be following in those states’ footsteps — but the policy may be in jeopardy given that the CFPB announced the new federal rule just weeks before President Joe Biden is set to leave office. ## Will Trump keep the medical debt rule in place? Though the CFPB finalized the rule on Tuesday, it isn’t expected to take effect until 60 days after it is published in the *Federal Register —* meaning some time in March. At that point, Biden will be out of office, and President-elect Donald Trump will be in power. This gives Republicans and the Trump administration the ability to reverse the CFPB’s rule before it's enacted. The crippling consequences of medical debt are widely felt, however, and medical debt is looked upon unfavorably across the political spectrum. According to a [2023 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/06/21/inflation-health-costs-partisan-cooperation-among-the-nations-top-problems/) from the Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans said the affordability of health care was a “very big problem” in the country today, including 54% of Republican-leaning respondents and 73% of Democrat-leaning respondents. That said, the rule has already sparked some backlash. While the policies were undergoing the official rulemaking process last year, a group of Republican lawmakers [wrote to the CFPB](https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2024-08-14_fsc_letter_to_cfpb_medical_debt_final.pdf) to express “serious concerns” about omitting medical debt from credit reports. They said doing so would provide an incomplete picture of someone’s financial situation, harming financial institutions and ultimately consumers. Banking trade groups similarly wrote to Chopra and the CFPB voicing their disapproval of the rule. Even though the three big credit bureaus voluntarily removed medical debt under $500 from credit reports, a handful of industry leaders came out Tuesday against the CFPB’s new rule to remove all such debts from credit reports. The CFPB “lacks the authority to dictate what can and cannot be included on credit reports,” Dan Smith, CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association, said in a statement shared with Money. (The CDIA is an industry trade group that represents the big three credit bureaus as well as many other niche credit reporting agencies.) Some advisors in Trump's orbit are not fans of the CFPB. Multibillionaire Elon Musk is chief among them. Tasked with overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Musk [recently said](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1861644897490751865?lang=en) he wants to "delete \[the\] CFPB." DOGE is not an official government agency, and its recommendations to Trump aren't binding. Also, any creation (or deletion) of government agencies or departments require Congressional approval. Even so, Musk's sentiment could provide a clue as to how Trump will view the CFPB in his second term. Ultimately, it's not clear how Trump will handle the new medical debt rule, and his transition team did not respond to Money’s request for comment. ## Find a Credit Repair company that works for you ### 🥇 Most Affordable Credit Help Company! ![View Plans](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28241/medium_ae18ab6b-f004-4597-a78c-b5057ebf3778.png) Our Partner [View Plans](https://money.com/go/cfef552462d5?bidid=4132954149&pmeta=p129-c527-u25367&ptid=672473368&ptoken=b66b1eb4e947e9701ba5fa2103f232a8) ### Take Steps Toward Improving Your Credit with a Trusted Legal Team ![View Plans](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/541/medium_AEPRGHMZaPsbrAuaWpZtkFWwSMTooS.png) Our Partner [View Plans](https://money.com/go/f90d8a95e694?bidid=4132954138&pmeta=p129-c527-u25367&ptid=672473368&ptoken=7fd2ff23ffa2042311907e6e3503ec4d) ### Offers a single, low-cost credit repair package ![View Plans](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/1992/medium_Sky_Blue_Credit_Repair_Logo.png) Our Partner [View Plans](https://money.com/go/4f5fb9f1dd33?bidid=4132954145&pmeta=p129-c527-u25367&ptid=672473368&ptoken=fc8aead7d0d94a5184e708b28bda00df) ### All plans include unlimited disputes to all three credit bureaus ![View Plans](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/544/medium_AzCOfmOSdIObukHTtkAFkkVcednFPx.png) Our Partner [View Plans](https://money.com/go/be52e5fc7e0c?bidid=4132954153&pmeta=p129-c527-u25367&ptid=672473368&ptoken=7721bda30d009affd7bcb85ae6ce32ec) ### Even the most basic packages include financial management tools ![View Plans](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/29349/medium_5f909068-0d8c-41f9-91b3-62c42c6b942c.webp) Our Partner [View Plans](https://money.com/go/652e269816fe?bidid=4132954157&pmeta=p129-c527-u25367&ptid=672473368&ptoken=24fb0bea66bdccbeaa2e8b600d3980e2) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28241/medium_ae18ab6b-f004-4597-a78c-b5057ebf3778.png) Clean up your credit report with Credit Saint [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/sc3ba8a1c51c?ap_referrer=%2Fmedical-debt-banned-from-credit-reports%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/medical-debt-banned-from-credit-reports/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Credit", "item": "https://money.com/credit/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Credit Report", "item": "https://money.com/credit-report/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Have Medical Debt? 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