Before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris‘ administration leaves office and makes way for President-elect Donald Trump, they have announced that they are removing $49 billion in medical debt from 15 million Americans’ credit reports as a new federal rule blocks credit agencies from reporting unpaid medical bills; which have been preventing people from getting mortgages, car loans, small business loans, and more.
RELATED: Connecticut Plans To Forgive $1 Billion In Medical Debt: Relief For Thousands Of Residents
On Tuesday (January 7), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — which has helped protect consumer interests for 13 years, putting $17.5 billion back into millions of Americans’ pockets — announced a new federal rule ordering credit agencies to remove medical debt from credit reports, thus creating an average 20-point credit score boost and leading to approximately 22,000 additional mortgages every year.
In response to the new ruling, that looks to help 15 million Americans, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ administration announced on Tuesday (January 7) that they will be removing $49 billion in medical debt.
RELATED: Doctor And His Wife Erases Former Cancer Patients’ $650K Debt
According to a White House fact sheet, “Under the CFPB rule, there will be zero Americans with medical debt listed on their credit reports, down from 46 million in 2020. … 15 million Americans still have $49 billion in outstanding medical bills in collections appearing in the credit reporting system. The action will remove these outstanding $49 billion in unpaid medical bills from the credit reports of the remaining 15 million impacted Americans.”
In response to the news, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd stated, “Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, no American’s ability to apply for a mortgage or secure a small business loan will be denied because of medical debt. This life-changing CFPB rule will wipe $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of over 15 million Americans, ensuring that hardworking families can save money and build wealth — even in the face of medical emergencies.”
Floyd continued, “While Donald Trump and his billionaire Cabinet focus on rigging the economy for their ultra-wealthy special interest backers and threaten to gut the CFPB’s critical protections for millions of Americans, Democrats are fighting every day to help the American people thrive.”
According to a 2024 poll from Peterson-KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues, about 1 in 12 adults in the U.S. have medical debt. In response to this fact, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau determined that a medical bill on a person’s credit report was a poor predictor of whether or not they would repay a loan; however, the debt still led to thousands of denied mortgage applications.
#Socialites, be sure to check out the post below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after!
