VP Harris announces rule eliminating medical debt from credit reports; highlights Black couple’s inspirational story
A final rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be a "game changer," particularly for Black Americans, who have 2.6 times higher odds of medical debt than white Americans and are more likely to borrow money as a result.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced a ruling from a federal consumer agency that will remove medical debt from credit reports for millions of Americans.
Building on previous efforts to address the rising cost of living for Americans and following President Joe Biden’s pledge to address the impact of healthcare debt, Harris, on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration, announced the final rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency,” said Harris in a statement announcing the CFPB rulings that prohibit lenders from considering the medical information of potential borrowers and, more notably, ban consumer reporting agencies from including medical debt information on credit reports.
The White House claims the finalized CFPB rule will remove medical debt from the credit reports of more than 15 million Americans and raise their credit scores by an estimated average of 20 points. The administration also estimates that it will lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages every year.
The vice president noted that the Biden-Harris administration, which ends on Jan. 20, had canceled over $1 billion in medical debt as part of an overall plan to forgive $7 billion by 2026.
“We also reduced the burden of medical debt by increasing pathways to forgiveness and cracking down on predatory debt collection tactics,” the vice president added.
According to the National Institutes of Health, Black Americans have 2.6 times higher odds of medical debt than white Americans. Black Americans are also more likely to be contacted by a collection agency and to borrow money because of medical debt. By contrast, white Americans are more likely to use their savings.
Vice President Harris said the new ruling will be “life-changing for millions of families, making it easier for them to be approved for a car loan, a home loan, or a small-business loan.” She added, “As someone who has spent my entire career fighting to protect consumers and lower medical bills, I know that our historic rule will help more Americans save money, build wealth, and thrive.”
While highlighting Tuesday’s announcement, Vice President Harris spotlighted a Black entrepreneurial couple, Tyesha and Venison, in Atlanta who saw their credit score drop by 200 points due to medical debt. Due to Tyesha’s unexpected medical condition, the couple had acquired $30,000 worth of hospital fees. In addition, the couple said their ability to take out loans as business owners was impacted by their medical debt.
Thanks to our Administration's action, medical debt can no longer be included in credit scores. Millions of Americans like Tyesha and Venison can now invest in their businesses and their futures. pic.twitter.com/VdT1n9Mzu0
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 7, 2025
“I’m a person that likes to keep my word. I like to pay my bills. I like to do the right thing. But when you’re faced with something like that, what do you do?” said Tyesha. “It keeps us from growing our business,” she added. Her husband Venison said the new rule on medical debt and credit scores is a “game changer.”
With only 13 days left in office, the latest action from the Biden-Harris administration almost dares the incoming Trump administration to reverse it, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to do for various Biden-era actions, including a recent banning of offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to reduce the advancing harms of the climate crisis.
However, given Trump’s campaign pledge to address the economic challenges facing American voters, repealing the CFPB rule could be politically damaging for the incoming Trump White House.
During a Tuesday press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump did not mention the new rule on medical debt. However, he did list a number of proposals, including pardoning Jan. 6 insurrection defendants, acquiring the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
Reacting to Tuesday’s announcements from the Biden-Harris White House and Trump’s press conference, former national co-chair of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and Ohio state Senator Nina Turner wrote on X: “68,000 Americans die each year due to lack of healthcare. The number one cause of bankruptcy in America is medical debt. Homelessness rose 18% in 2024.”
Turner added, “The idea of renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America’ is a distraction from the ruling class.”
Turner’s former boss Sen. Bernie Sanders and progressive lawmakers on Capitol Hill have for years proposed Medicare for All, which would provide universal health insurance.
“Americans spent around $4,000 on health insurance in 2023 –– that’s nearly a 20% increase since 2018. It’s appalling,” U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who co-sponsored Medicare for All bill with Sanders, wrote on X. “It’s time we pass Medicare for All and my bill with [Sanders] to cancel medical debt.”
More About:Politics
You Might Like
