Congresswoman Tlaib introduces bill to combat health care debt
WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has introduced a bill that would prohibit the inclusion of medical debt on credit or consumer reports.
The bill is a response to the fact that medical debt is a major problem in the U.S., affecting more than 100 million people.
A 2019 study estimated that 66.5% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. between 2013 and 2016 were primarily caused by costs associated with medical problems.
The bill has been praised by consumer advocates as it would protect millions of Americans from being denied access to basic needs such as jobs, housing or transportation because of medical debt.
Tlaib’s bill would specifically exclude information about debt resulting from a medical procedure from credit reports
The bill would also reduce the amount of time adverse information remains on a credit report from seven years to four years.
This would make it easier for people to recover from financial setbacks, such as medical debt, and rebuild their credit.
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