Last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule that will ban reporting medical bill debt on credit reports and prohibits creditors from considering certain medical information in making lending decisions. The rule bans consumer reporting agencies from including medical debt on credit reports and credit scores sent to creditors. Creditors will continue to be able to consider medical information to verify medical-based forbearances and verify medical expenses that a consumer needs a loan to pay. The rule also restricts creditors from considering medical information in connection with any determination of the consumer’s eligibility, or continued eligibility, for credit.
This rule may make it more difficult to recover medical collections from patients, as they may have less incentive to pay without the consequence of consumer reporting. (Note: The CFPB contends that the percentage of consumers who would be disincentivized to pay is “quite small.”) There is no objective way to know if this is true and the rule fails to acknowledge that many practitioners already have flexible post-service collection processes and work diligently with patients to find a reasonable payment solution.
This rule goes into effect on June 15, 2025, following a 90-day stay in the litigation as requested by the CFPB’s new leadership. Furthermore, with the change in the administration, there is also potential that this rule may be reversed. Most activities of the CFBP are on hold as the agency’s headquarters are closed this week. We will continue to monitor the issue for any future developments.
The Advocacy Council – ADVOCATING FOR ALLERGISTS AND THEIR PATIENTS.
