Government Now Wants Medical Debt to Affect Consumer Credit Scores

A few years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), ordered that medical debt could not be reported to people’ credit reports.

The logic was, unlike most other forms of debt, medical debt is involuntary. We just don’t know when or if we’ll get sick or injured, and getting sick or injured is not a measure of one’s financial or fiscal responsibility. Because of that, it is unfair, it was argued at the time, to report medical debt to people’s credit, the way other forms of credit that are in default are reported.

A Change of Direction

But recently, the CFPB has changed course, and asked courts to block the rule that prevented medical debt from being reported to credit—essentially, the same government entity that once said medical debt should not be reported to consumers’ credit reports, is now saying it should.

A judge is set to rule on whether the rule should be blocked (allowing medical debt to be reported) in June.

Accident Victims are Affected

While this hurts all Americans who may have credit debt, it has a special impact on those who are in accidents, and who may incur medical debt.

Even if you have insurance, medical debt can still happen from deductibles, or uncovered medical expenses or procedures. And many people, with the rising cost of health insurance, may only carry insurance that covers the bare minimum of expenses.

That means that on top of the other problems that an injury victim has in the aftermath of an accident, they now have to worry about their credit being ruined.

This is a big deal. This means that even if the injury lawsuit resolves, and does so in a way that fully compensates the victim, the victim may still find him or herself unable to get a new car, or rent an apartment, or do anything that requires a credit check.

So What Can You Do?

An injury victim must do everything possible, to avoid medical debt incurred after an accident from affecting his or her credit.

One of the things that a personal injury attorney can do for you, is to help you avoid medical debt from ruining your credit while you’re waiting for your case to resolve.

Many hospitals understand the plight of accident victims, and they will wait for payment of outstanding balances. One of the things that injury attorneys do, is contact these health care facilities, and tell them that your medical expenses are the result of an accident, and that you will promise to pay them back after the accident resolves (for many hospitals, you legally must pay them back, and they have a lien on your settlement or verdict—but an attorney can make sure they at least don’t damage your credit while you’re waiting for the case to resolve).

The same goes for many medical offices, like doctor’s offices. Your attorney can tell the doctor that you promise to pay back these outstanding medical bills once your case resolves, from the proceeds of any settlement or verdict that you may receive.

Schedule a consultation with the Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian for help after your accident to make sure that your credit isn’t ruined by outstanding medical debt from medical treatment after an accident.

Source:

npr.org/2025/05/26/nx-s1-5406799/cfpbs-medical-debt-credit-report-lawsuit