Medical debt is the largest source of debt in collection in the United States, and it’s more likely to be held by women, people with disabilities and Black Americans.
The rule will affect more than 15 million Americans, raising their credit scores by an estimated average of 20 points. No Americans will have medical debt listed on their credit report — down from approximately 46 million Americans who had this kind of debt on their credit report in 2020.
The vice president also announced that states and localities have already utilized American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to support the elimination of over $1 billion in medical debt for more than 700,000 Americans and that jurisdictions are on track to eliminate approximately $15 billion in medical debt for up to almost 6 million Americans.
“No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency,” Harris said in a statement Tuesday. “This will be lifechanging for millions of families, making it easier for them to be approved for a car loan, a home loan, or a small-business loan. As someone who has spent my entire career fighting to protect consumers and lower medical bills, I know that our historic rule will help more Americans save money, build wealth, and thrive.”
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I suspect that will be killed in 14 days.
It would be better if they made it easier to avoid getting that medical debt in the first place
I would guess there’s only so much that can be done with these kinds of rules.
But that would require the most heinous of acts, minimizing a megacorp’s profit
Pfft, that will either be swiftly and quietly appealed, or just flat ignored by credit companies.