{"id":952,"date":"2025-01-07T20:04:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainepeoplesalliance.org\/?p=952"},"modified":"2025-01-07T20:04:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:04:39","slug":"medical-debt-will-be-off-credit-reports-thanks-to-newly-finalized-cfpb-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainepeoplesalliance.org\/medical-debt-will-be-off-credit-reports-thanks-to-newly-finalized-cfpb-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Debt will be off credit reports thanks to newly-finalized CFPB rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 7, 2025<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

About four in 10 Mainers have taken on medical debt in the past five years<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)\u00a0finalized a rule<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday to stop the harmful impact of medical debt on consumers\u2019 credit scores. The rule will stop credit reporting companies from sharing medical debts with lenders and prohibit lenders from making lending decisions based on existing medical debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About four in ten<\/a>\u00a0Mainers say they\u2019ve taken on medical debt in the past five years and three out of four of those people still have that debt. Nora Flaherty-Stanford of Maine People\u2019s Alliance says finalizing the rule is \u201ca big win for Mainers and people all over the country. This will help 15 million people whose credit scores should not have suffered, because of charges they couldn\u2019t avoid that they perhaps should\u00a0not even be responsible for<\/a>\u00a0in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This rule is part of a larger initiative by the CFPB to address hidden junk fees charged by banks and financial companies that disproportionately impact low-income consumers. Since its formation, the CFPB has\u00a0obtained<\/a>\u00a0over $21 billion in relief for over 205 million people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its success and its popularity with the public, the agency\u2019s future is at risk. Most recently, advisors to the President-elect have called for the CFPB to be shuttered. The medical debt credit reporting rule itself could also be overturned by Congress using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress, with the President\u2019s signature, to overturn new regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flaherty-Stanford adds that \u201cas we celebrate this good news, we\u2019re also calling on our members of Congress to stand strong in supporting this rule and the CFPB.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though medical debt has minimal\u00a0predictive value<\/a>\u00a0in forecasting about whether people will pay their loan payments, vast amounts of medical debt information remain in the credit reporting system. Medical debt unjustly damages the credit scores of millions, limiting their ability to obtain affordable credit, rent safe housing, or even get a job. It also assists debt collectors in seeking to coerce payments, including for inaccurate or false medical bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) voluntarily removed some medical collections information starting in 2022, but in 2024 the\u00a0CFPB found<\/a>\u00a0that 15 million Americans still had more than $49 billion in outstanding medical debt on their credit reports. Consumers left behind by industry efforts were more likely to live in the South and in predominantly Black or Latino neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

####<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maine People\u2019s Alliance (MPA) was founded in Lewiston in 1982 and has grown to be the largest community organization in Maine, and one of the largest in the country. MPA is a powerful grassroots network of more than 32,000 members who work together on issues that include but are not limited to climate change, toxics use reduction, health care access, affordable housing, racial justice, and immigrant rights.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

####<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: Nora Flaherty-Stanford,\u00a0nora@mainepeoplesalliance.org<\/a>, (207) 370-8314<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 7, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMedical Debt will be off credit reports thanks to newly-finalized CFPB rule - Maine People's Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mainepeoplesalliance.org\/medical-debt-will-be-off-credit-reports-thanks-to-newly-finalized-cfpb-rule\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Medical Debt will be off credit reports thanks to newly-finalized CFPB rule - 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