Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-1581
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2019-05-21
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Consumer credit

Debt collection

Health care costs and insurance
Latest action: action_date: 2019-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-05-21
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill modifies requirements related to the reporting of medical debt. Specifically, a consumer reporting agency may not add certain medical debt information to a consumer credit report. Also, a debt collector may not report certain medical debt information to a consumer reporting agency within a specified time period and must notify the consumer prior to reporting such medical debt. </p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1581 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 21, 2019 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal , Ms. Warren , Mr. Menendez , and Mr. Durbin ) 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 institute a 1-year waiting period before medical debt will be reported on a consumer’s credit report and to remove paid-off and settled medical debts from credit reports that have been fully paid or settled, to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide a timetable for verification of medical debt and to increase the efficiency of credit markets with more perfect information, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019 . 2. Amendments to Fair Credit Reporting Act (a) 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: (bb) Medical debt The term medical debt means a debt described in section 604(g)(1)(C). . (b) Exclusion for paid or settled medical debt Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (9) Any information relating to a medical debt if the date on which the debt was placed for collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to any similar action antedates the report by less than 1 year. (10) Any information relating to a fully paid or settled medical debt that had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection which, from the date of payment or settlement, antedates the report by more than 45 days. . 3. Amendments to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (a) In general Section 809 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692g ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (f) Additional notice requirements for medical debt (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Consumer reporting agency The term consumer reporting agency has the meaning given the term in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681a(f) ). (B) Medical debt The term medical debt means a debt arising from the receipt of medical services, products, or devices. (2) Notice about credit reporting Before furnishing information regarding a medical debt of a consumer to a consumer reporting agency, the person furnishing the information shall send a statement to the consumer that includes the following: (A) A notification that the medical debt may not be reported to a consumer reporting agency until the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the person sends the statement. (B) The specific date that is the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the person sends the statement. (C) A notification that, if the debt is settled or paid by the consumer or an insurance company during the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the person sends the statement— (i) the debt may not be reported to a consumer reporting agency; and (ii) the consumer may, during that 1-year period— (I) communicate with an insurance company to determine coverage for the debt; or (II) apply for financial assistance. (3) No reporting during 1-year period (A) In general During the 1-year period described in paragraph (2), no person may communicate with, or report any information to, any consumer reporting agency regarding a debt described in that paragraph. (B) Rule of construction Nothing in subparagraph (A) may be construed to affect when a debt collector may engage in activities to collect or attempt to collect any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed. (4) Reporting after the 1-year period Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a person from communicating with, or reporting any information to, a consumer reporting agency regarding a medical debt of a consumer after the end of the 1-year period described in paragraph (2) with respect to the debt. . 4. Effective date The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.