Murphy Statement On CFPB Decision To Remove Medical Debt From Credit Reports

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday released the following statement after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced new rules to prevent credit reports from reflecting overdue medical bills and prohibit companies from using unpaid medical debts to assess creditworthiness. The CFPB estimates that these rules will benefit about 15 million Americans, many of whom have struggled to secure jobs, apartments, or credit due to their medical debts despite often having some form of health insurance.

"It's absurd that getting sick and then being unable to afford your medical care can ruin your credit score and make it that much harder to rent a home or secure a loan. This new CFPB rule will ensure millions of Americans involuntarily saddled with medical debt are protected from exploitative debt collection practices. It's one of the many things the CFPB has done to help low- and middle-income people, so it's no surprise that Trump and his cronies want to gut the agency and repeal all of its rules."

Murphy applauded the CFPB's rulemaking process to remove medical debt from Americans' credit reports in September 2023. Last Congress, Murphy introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen consumer protections and improve transparency for medical debt practices.

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