Judge nixes a Biden rule in order to keep medical debt on credit reports

CNN ^ | July 15, 2025 | Tami Luhby

[Racketeer]

Americans’ unpaid medical bills will remain on their credit reports after a federal judge last week vacated a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have removed such debt.

Judge Sean Jordan of the US District Court of Texas’ Eastern District found that the rule exceeded the bureau’s authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, agreeing with the arguments of two industry associations, which had filed a lawsuit against the rule that was later joined by the Trump administration.

The court found that “every major substantive provision of the Medical Debt Rule” exceeded the CFPB’s authority, Jordan, a President Donald Trump appointee, wrote in his opinion.

The rule, which the bureau finalized shortly before the Biden administration left office in January, would have removed an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of about 15 million people. It would have also banned lenders from using certain medical information in loan decisions.

The rule also would have prohibited lenders from using medical devices, such as wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs, as collateral for loans and barred them from repossessing the devices if patients were unable to repay the loans. However, lenders would have been able to continue to consider medical information in certain situations, including when a consumer requests a loan to pay health expenses or asks for a temporary postponement of loan payments for medical reasons.

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TOPICS: Agriculture; Astronomy; Books/Literature; Food
KEYWORDS: americanslaves; biden; bidenlegacy; china; chinahashealthcare; credit; debt; debtslavery; fakenews; injury; pandemic; reports; sickcarescam; sickness; tamiluhby

[Racketeer]

This is absurd. No one ever plans to get sick or injured but almost all plan to borrow money for purchases.

The government is saying your credit worthiness is now scored on unforeseen circumstances that can be completely out of your control. Illness and accidental injury can be devastating even without the financial burden associated with increased interest rates due to unforeseen and unplanned medical emergencies.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Sigh healthcare stuff is a major GOP blindspot.

[bwest]

I agree. This doesn’t seem like a good move.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

and it’s because of stuff like this that socialism is getting so much cache 😬

[Lurker]

When you go to a doctor or hospital you sign an agreement to pay for their services.

Period.

If you signed for it you pay for it.

Period.

L

[NorthMountain]

exceeded the CFPB’s authority,

Are we supposed to go along with unelected bureaucrats exceeding their lawful authority when it feels good?

No?

Didn't think so ...

If you want this collection of bureaucrats to have more authority, ask your congressthings to give them more authority.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Democrat Party is the party of deadbeats and losers.

[vivenne]

Wrong. You agree to pay in order to verify treated, in many cases for an unknown illness/injury but in order to be helped or to keep from dying you must agree to pay for completely unknown charges.

[jimtorr]

I disagree. All debt, no matter what caused it, should be considered before a person takes on another loan or credit card.

[vivenne]

to be not verified.

[jimtorr]

......completely unknown charges.

That is an issue separate from debt reporting, and it is being addressed separately.

[vivenne]

I was addressing the posters comments. Regardless, you are missing the point. You must be a mefical corporatist.

[blackdog]

You neglect the absurd inaccuracies in medical billing. I can say by experience that 50% of the charges that migrate their way to your mailbox after a procedure do so for the next six months are not accurate or appropriate. The providers subscribe to billing services with algorithms that "maximize patient revenues". They bill every past insurance plan (which you never handed over a coverage card), they bill you for every customary thing you did not receive, but they know will not get a denial. You still get the denial because your $8,000 copay had not yet been met. And it goes on, and on, and on.

One of these algorithm programs was designed for use in the DC Metro area by Federal Judge James Boasberg's wife. She designed billing services maximization programs for obtaining maximum revenues in abortion services. Every federal, state,vand County dollar the software says could be lurking in unrealized grants, or programs after running crosschecks on your age, race, income, zip code, marital status, assets owned.

[Flaming Conservative]

I am very disappointed in this ruling.

[sloanrb]

The problem with medical debt is you don’t know what you are paying for.

If car loans were done the same as hospital bills you would be paying triple what you are now. And you wouldn’t have any idea of the total cost. If any other type of loan you could get was done the same way as medical debt they would be arrested for fraud.

Not to mention how much of medical debt is actually paying for the uninsured who are free riders.

[Leaning Right]

> You neglect the absurd inaccuracies in medical billing. <

That, and just absurd billing, period. Go to a pharmacy. Buy an aspirin for a few pennies. Get admitted to a hospital. Be billed an aspirin for $25.

Everyone must be responsible for their own bills. But by golly, things are way out of wack here.

[No name given]

At all.

[No name given]

Unfortunately.

[SunkenCiv]

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[lastchance]

Wouldn’t the solution be for Congress to make a law which has the same effect? And I agree with you.