Medical debt is ruining the credit scores of millions of Americans - The Washington Post

If you have a bill in collections that is dragging down your credit score, chances are high that it’s medical.

Some 43 million Americans have delinquent medical debt on their credit reports, amounting to about one in five credit reports, according to a report released Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau is calling attention to the burden that medical debt can create for consumers and the negative effect that it can have on their credit reports. The CFPB also created new reporting rules that could make it easier to spot errors.

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The CFPB also announced that major credit reporting agencies — including Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — will be required to report any complaints they receive about the accuracy of consumers’ credit reports. Such information should help the bureau to identify the types of debts that are more likely to be reported erroneously.

The report comes at a time when consumer advocates and credit reporting bureaus are trying to revamp the way credit worthiness is measured. In the fall, the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) started using a new scoring model that changes the way medical debt is weighted and no longer factors in overdue payments that have since been made. The CFPB expects to propose new rules for debt collection agencies next year, focusing on accuracy and how consumers are treated.

Medical debt is ruining the credit scores of millions of Americans - The Washington Post

See also:

• AnnualCreditReport.com is organized by the three large credit bureaus to provide you with your three detailed reports no credit score, just the reports).
• CreditKarma.com the score does not sync up perfectly to the three credit bureaus, but it gives you a general idea of how your score compares to national averages.
• Qizzle.com is similar to CreditKarma, offers a free VantageScore 3.0 credit score and a free Equifax credit report every six months. Many tools to help gain a complete understanding of credit and provides tools to help users repair their credit and report problems.