Should medical debt affect your credit report?: Brandy Davis [Video]

Guest columnist Brandy Davis is the policy fellow for Medicaid at The Center for Community Solutions.

People generally don’t have a choice about incurring the cost for needed healthcare treatments and services, and often don’t plan for or expect to be faced with unaffordable medical bills.

Yet carrying unpaid medical debt impacts the credit report of millions of Americans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may stop the practice of placing a patient’s medical debt on their credit report, in response to a new rule proposed in June by the Biden administration.

In July 2010, when Congress passed the Dodd-Frank-Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created to increase government accountability and protect consumers. The resulting Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) restricts the use of a creditor’s ability to use a patient’s medical information in connection with determining credit worthiness.

Your diagnosis shouldn’t influence your credit score.

When it comes to medical debt, however, there is an exception …