II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 744 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclusion in consumer 

credit reports and to establish requirements for debt collectors with 

respect to medical debt information of veterans due to inappropriate 

or delayed billing payments or reimbursements from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2017 

Mr. DONNELLY (for himself and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclusion in consumer credit reports and to establish requirements for debt collectors with respect to medical debt 

information of veterans due to inappropriate or delayed 

billing payments or reimbursements from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Veterans 

5 Credit Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to rectify problematic reporting of medical 

4 debt included in a consumer report of a veteran due 

5 to inappropriate or delayed payment for hospital 

6 care or medical services provided in a non-Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs facility under the laws ad8 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 

9 (2) to clarify the process of debt collection for 

10 such medical debt. 

11 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT. 

12 (a) VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT DEFINED.—Section 

13 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(z) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the meaning 

16 given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States 

17 Code. 

18 ‘‘(aa) VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT.—The term ‘vet19 eran’s medical debt’— 

20 ‘‘(1) means a debt of a veteran arising from 

21 health care provided in a non-Department of Vet22 erans Affairs facility under the laws administered by 

23 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 

24 ‘‘(2) includes medical debt that the Department 

25 of Veterans Affairs has wrongfully charged a vet26 eran.’’. 


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1 (b) EXCLUSION FOR VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT.— 

2 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(7) Any information related to a veteran’s 

6 medical debt if the date on which the hospital care 

7 or medical services was rendered relating to the debt 

8 antedates the report by less than 1 year. 

9 ‘‘(8) Any information related to a fully paid or 

10 settled veteran’s medical debt that had been charac11 terized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection.’’. 

12 (c) REMOVAL OF VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT FROM

13 CONSUMER REPORT.—Section 611 of the Fair Credit Re14 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

16 except as provided in subsection (g)’’ after ‘‘sub17 section (f)’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) DISPUTE PROCESS FOR VETERAN’S MEDICAL

20 DEBT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a veteran’s 

22 medical debt of a consumer, the consumer may sub23 mit a notice along with proof of liability of the De24 partment of Veterans Affairs for payment of that 

25 debt or documentation that the Department of VetVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744

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1 erans Affairs is in the process of making payment 

2 for authorized medical services rendered to a con3 sumer reporting agency or a reseller to dispute the 

4 inclusion of that debt on a consumer report of the 

5 consumer. 

6 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO VETERAN.—The De7 partment of Veterans Affairs shall submit to a vet8 eran a notice that the Department of Veterans Af9 fairs has assumed liability for part or all of a vet10 eran’s medical debt. 

11 ‘‘(3) DELETION OF INFORMATION FROM

12 FILE.—If a notice and proof of liability or docu13 mentation is received under paragraph (1), the con14 sumer reporting agency shall delete all information 

15 relating to the veteran’s medical debt from the file 

16 of the consumer and notify the furnisher and the 

17 consumer of that deletion.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

20 on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act. 

Æ 


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