Sponsors (18)
The bill improves credit access and privacy for people with medical debt by removing medical-collection entries from credit reports, but it reduces data available to lenders and creates compliance and market-shift risks that could raise costs or change screening practices for borrowers.
People with medical debt (especially low-income individuals and patients with chronic conditions) will see medical-collection entries removed from their credit reports, improving credit scores and increasing access to loans, mortgages, and rental housing.
Patients (particularly those with chronic conditions) will have less sensitive health-related information in routine credit files, reducing privacy risk and potential misuse of medical data.
Removing medical collections from credit reports may increase financial inclusion by making it easier for people with past medical collections to qualify for credit and housing, helping long-term economic stability for affected consumers.
Lenders and landlords will have less credit-report information to assess risk, which could lead to higher borrowing costs, stricter underwriting, or reduced credit availability for some borrowers.
Removing limited exceptions in §1681b(g) and related changes could create compliance uncertainty and implementation costs for consumer reporting agencies, financial institutions, and other permitted users.
Creditors may shift to alternative screening or noncredit medical data, potentially imposing new fees, stricter terms, or different burdens on consumers as firms look for other risk signals.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Bars adverse medical-debt information from consumer credit reports and prevents creditors from using medical-debt data for credit decisions, with CFPB rulemaking due in one year.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Nikema Williams · Last progress July 29, 2025
Prohibits consumer reporting agencies from including adverse information about medical debt in consumer credit reports and stops creditors from using medical-debt information when deciding whether to extend credit. Requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue or amend a regulation within one year to implement the ban on creditor use of medical debt for credit decisions. The bill adds a statutory definition of “medical debt,” removes carve-outs that previously allowed certain medical information to be treated differently under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and instructs the CFPB to adopt a regulation applying Equal Credit Opportunity Act definitions of “credit” and “creditor.”