Package of bills approved by the U.S. House of Representatives includes proposal to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay credit reporting on medical debt for one year.
1/29/2020 11:00
Legislation approved in Congress this week as part of a package of bills, H.R. 3621, the Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020, could impact options to communicate with consumers about medical bills and ACA International has extended its advocacy on these measures.
H.R. 3621, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., passed in the House by a vote of 221-189 Wednesday.
As part of the package, the House also passed the Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act (H.R. 3622) from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., which would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delaying credit reporting on medical debt.
ACA, as part of ongoing advocacy on medical debt legislation in the 116th Congress, submitted a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, to consider engaging in a discussion with stakeholders, including the accounts receivable management industry, rather than take up the package of bills including the Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act.
H.R. 3622 would prohibit credit reporting entirely for debt arising out of “medically necessary procedures,” and delay credit reporting on other medical debt for one year. It would also shorten the amount of time any debt that did not arise from an agreement or contract can be included on a consumer’s credit report.
“ACA has several concerns about the Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act, and has urged the Senate not to move forward with it in this form,” said ACA CEO Mark Neeb in the letter to U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “The year-long delay in reporting medical debt and the lack of clarity surrounding what is a ‘medically necessary procedure’ harms consumers who may be unaware of the options they may have to handle their debt obligations and deadlines they face for insurance corrections and charity care options. After exhausting other options, credit reporting can be the best way to alert consumers of their outstanding debts. Moreover, consumers could be at risk if they are obtaining unaffordable credit and services during the lengthy timeframe credit reporting would be delayed if this legislation were to become law, since credit providers will not understand a consumer’s financial situation if they have an inaccurate credit report.”
While H.R. 3622 moves through Congress, Tlaib is also sponsoring legislation this year that would prohibit the accounts receivable management industry from engaging in activities to collect or attempting to collect medical debt for TWO years. H.R. 5330, the Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act, would also delay the ability to report medical debt to credit reporting agencies for ONE year and would create a ban on reporting debt arising out of “medically necessary procedures,” similar to H.R. 3622.
ACA is leading grassroots advocacy for members and health care providers to reach out to their legislators on H.R. 5330.
The Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020 also includes:
H.R. 3614, the Restricting Use of Credit Checks for Employment Decisions Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla. This part of the bill would generally prohibit a consumer reporting agency from providing a consumer's credit information for employment purposes, unless otherwise required by law or for a national security investigation.
H.R. 3621, the Student Borrower Credit Improvement Act, sponsored by Pressley. This part of the bill would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to remove adverse information for certain defaulted or delinquent private education loan borrowers who demonstrate a history of loan repayment, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3629, the Clarity in Credit Score Formation Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass. This legislation would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to establish clear federal oversight of the development of credit scoring models by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and for other purposes.
H.R. 3618, the Free Credit Scores for Consumers Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, which would direct the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to give consumers free copies of their credit scores that are used by creditors in making credit decisions, as determined by the CFPB, whenever consumers obtain their free annual consumer reports.
Read ACA’s complete letter to the U.S. Senate through our Advocacy Resource Center and learn more about advocacy opportunities with regulators and legislators by attending the Washington Insights Fly-In, May 19-21, in Washington, D.C.