WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, released this statement following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule that will prohibit medical debt from being included in a consumer’s credit report used by a lender and prohibit lenders from using medical information in their lending decisions.
“I applaud the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under the leadership of Director Rohit Chopra, for banning the inclusion of medical debt in credit reports used by lenders, which will give American families much needed relief they deserve. This step will remove nearly $50 billion in medical debt from credit reports that have unfairly lowered the credit scores of about 15 million Americans, including servicemembers, veterans, seniors, and students across the country. As we all know, illness or injury is often random and unavoidable. Unfortunately, when medical bills are invalid, unsubstantiated, or inaccurate, having them on your credit report adds insult to injury. Removing unpaid medical debt from credit reports is necessary because medical debt has little predictive value in assessing a borrower’s creditworthiness when it comes to repaying other loans. There is simply no reason families should be further penalized by medical debt in this way any longer.
“This final rule is a culmination of policy work that I have done for more than a decade in Congress to bring attention to this issue and advance legislation to stop medical debt from ruining the futures of hardworking American families. I am glad that the CFPB is once again taking action to protect working-class families and minimize the impact of these costly medical bills. I look forward to seeing this rule come into effect.”
