According to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau research, there’s $88 billion in medical debt on consumer credit records as of last June. But, changes to how medical collections debt is reported is coming.
The governor has signed legislation that will prohibit health-care providers and hospitals in Connecticut from reporting a person’s medical debt to credit rating agencies for use in credit reports.
The law also voids any medical debt that is reported to credit rating agencies, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
It takes effect on July 1.
“When medical debt is included in a person’s credit report, creditors are making decisions based on a person’s medical history that is not necessarily representative of their financial responsibility and household finances,” Lamont said in a statement.
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“By prohibiting medical debt from being reported to creditors, we are protecting patients who may have otherwise been apprehensive about seeking essential medical care,” Lamont added.
State Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), who serves as co-chair of the Human Services Committee, said medical debt is “the result of a health care system where many families are just one accident or one bad diagnosis away from ruined credit and all that comes with it.”
You can see the full bill below.
