Nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians are among the millions of Americans who have medical debt that won’t have to worry about it affecting their credit ratings.
On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harrison referred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) completed rule as historic and something that would enable more Americans to prosper and save money.
According to her, this will change the lives of millions of people by making it simpler for them to get approved for a small business loan, home loan, or auto loan.
The Biden administration estimates that 15 million Americans owe $49 billion in medical debt.
Additionally, the administration praised federal legislation that has assisted states and localities in using American Rescue Plan monies to pay down more than 700,000 Americans’ medical debt totaling more than $1 billion.
In his 2024 budget address, Governor Josh Shapiro suggested a medical debt relief scheme to forgive $400 million in debt that Pennsylvanians owed. Although the measure failed last year, Shapiro said he would bring his idea back to life and was happy to see the federal government acting.
I’ve personally heard of people, particularly in our rural areas, being crushed by medical debt,” he remarked. Those individuals and their experiences are important, which is why I have suggested clearing hundreds of millions of dollars in medical debt for those in greatest need while shielding them from credit-scoring debt collectors.”
The Pennsylvania Health Access Network’s director of policy and partnerships, Patrick Keenan, stated that while he believes the credit report rule is a positive beginning step, more work needs to be done.
He added that the new law does not mean that medical debt disappears and that we should consider preventing it in the first place.
It’s a big step toward giving families more security, but more needs to be done by state legislators.
According to a survey conducted by his group, one in four respondents in Pennsylvania reported that they or a family member had past-due medical expenses. Additionally, he stated that among the commonwealth’s residents, Dauphin County has one of the highest rates of medical debt.
According to Keenan, the state would make significant progress in solving the issue if the debt relief law and a hospital cost transparency bill were passed.
Healthcare activists and others are worried about the CFPB’s future. The CFPB is an independent federal agency that was established to make sure banks and other lenders treat the public fairly. They worry that the incoming Trump administration may destroy the agency or limit its ability to oversee banks.
Trump advisors Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who were appointed to lead Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, have stated that they are in favor of abolishing the agency.
Stories by
Amy Worden