Medical debt could remain on 15 million Americans’ credit reports despite recent reform efforts to remove it. Why’s that? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hasn’t finalized a rule it proposed in June to remove medical debt from most credit reports, which banks, credit card companies and landlords, among others, check to verify credit-worthiness. Advocates worry that whoever President-elect Donald Trump appoints to lead the agency could kill it. Even if the CFPB were to finalize the rule before President Joe Biden leaves office, Republicans in Congress could challenge it. A 1996 law provides an expedited process for Congress to overturn rules finalized in the waning days of an administration. The CFPB declined a request for comment. The backstory: The CFPB planned to impose the rule next year. The agency said medical debt is rarely an indicator of actual credit risk, and credit reports listing medical debt are often inaccurate. Listing medical debt on credit reports, the agency said, prevents credit-worthy borrowers from getting loans. Bankers and congressional Republicans don’t see it that way. Even so: During the campaign, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), expressed sympathy for some medical debtors. He lamented surprise invoices patients sometimes receive when they see out-of-network providers and touted a bill he proposed last year to bar employers from reclaiming health care premiums from employees who don’t return to work after taking leave following the birth of a child. In response to a question about Trump’s plans for the rule, the Trump transition team didn’t directly respond. “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “He will deliver.” Advocates of medical debt relief are holding out hope. “Trump himself has not spoken about this at all,” said Allison Sesso, CEO of Undue Medical Debt, which helps patients pay off their debts. “Everyone’s guessing.” What’s next? Trump is expected to fire Rohit Chopra, the current CFPB director appointed by Biden in 2021, as soon as he takes office. During Trump’s first term, his CFPB director, Mick Mulvaney, tried to zero out the agency’s funding. A Democratic Congress and then-President Barack Obama created the agency in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank law enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis on Wall Street.
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