Plan proposed to erase medical debt from credit reports [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says 15 million people have a total of $49 billion dollars in outstanding medical bills in collection. The federal agency is planning a rule that would remove medical bills from credit reports.

This proposed rule by the CFPB would prevent lenders from making decisions on whether someone can qualify to rent, buy a car, or take out a mortgage based on medical information.

The CFPB believes medical debt can be a bad predictor of whether someone is likely to repay a loan because they are usually not planned.

Rapid City bankruptcy attorney Mitch Johnson said most of the clients he sees seeking his services are because of substantial medical debt. This could be due to having no insurance or because of a major medical emergency.

Johnson added that collection agencies in the community are very aggressive and the best way …