I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2683 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Mr. DELANEY (for himself, Mr. HULTGREN, Ms. SINEMA, Mrs. WALORSKI, 
Mr. ROUZER, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. YOUNG of Alas-
ka, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. JONES, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BISHOP 
of Georgia, Mr. HIMES, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, 
Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. HASTINGS) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclu-
sion in consumer credit reports and to establish require-
ments for debt collectors with respect to medical debt 
information of veterans due to inappropriate or delayed 
billing payments or reimbursements from the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Veterans 
Credit Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to rectify problematic reporting of medical 
debt included in a consumer report of a veteran due 
to inappropriate or delayed payment for hospital 
care or medical services provided in a non-Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs facility under the laws ad-
ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
(2) to clarify the process of debt collection for 
such medical debt. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT. 
(a) VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT DEFINED.—Section 
603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(z) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(aa) VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT.—The term ‘vet-
eran’s medical debt’— 
‘‘(1) means a debt of a veteran arising from 
health care provided in a non-Department of Vet-
erans Affairs facility under the laws administered by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
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‘‘(2) includes medical debt that the Department 
of Veterans Affairs has wrongfully charged a vet-
eran.’’. 
(b) EXCLUSION FOR VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT.— 
Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(7) Any information related to a veteran’s 
medical debt if the date on which the hospital care 
or medical services was rendered relating to the debt 
antedates the report by less than 1 year. 
‘‘(8) Any information related to a fully paid or 
settled veteran’s medical debt that had been charac-
terized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection.’’. 
(c) REMOVAL OF VETERAN’S MEDICAL DEBT FROM 
CONSUMER REPORT.—Section 611 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 
except as provided in subsection (g)’’ after ‘‘sub-
section (f)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) DISPUTE PROCESS FOR VETERAN’S MEDICAL 
DEBT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a veteran’s 
medical debt of a consumer, the consumer may sub-
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mit a notice along with proof of liability of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs for payment of that 
debt or documentation that the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs is in the process of making payment 
for authorized medical services rendered to a con-
sumer reporting agency or a reseller to dispute the 
inclusion of that debt on a consumer report of the 
consumer. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION
TO
VETERAN.—The De-
partment of Veterans Affairs shall submit to a vet-
eran a notice that the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs has assumed liability for part or all of a vet-
eran’s medical debt. 
‘‘(3) 
DELETION
OF
INFORMATION
FROM 
FILE.—If a notice and proof of liability or docu-
mentation is received under paragraph (1), the con-
sumer reporting agency shall delete all information 
relating to the veteran’s medical debt from the file 
of the consumer and notify the furnisher and the 
consumer of that deletion.’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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