topic Illinois: No medical debt on credit report. in Rebuilding Your Credit

Illinois: No medical debt on credit report.

AndrewF — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:08:51 GMT

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/medical-debt-and-bankruptcy#:~:text=Medical%20debt%20on%20credit%20reports,purchased%20or%20used%20in%20Illinois.

If you are an Illinois resident, Medical debt should no longer appear on your credit reports starting January 1, 2025.

If you are an Illinois resident and see medical debt on your credit report, you should dispute it with the credit bureau(s) and say you are an Illinois resident and that Public Act 103-0648 does not allow medical bills to be reported.

If they keep it on your report anyway, Illinois Legal Aid suggests contacting a consumer rights attorney.

See; https://ilga.gov/Legislation/publicacts/view/103-0648

Re: Illinois: No medical debt on credit report.

pizzadude — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:30:34 GMT

Not sure if this was rolled back but this was announced / implemented in Jan last year:

The CFPB’s action will ban the inclusion of medical bills on credit reports used by lenders and prohibit lenders from using medical information in their lending decisions

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/

Re: Illinois: No medical debt on credit report.

RobertS2 — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 23:35:08 GMT

I think it was rolled back. We're kind of in limbo, but the bureaus are holding off for the most part.

Re: Illinois: No medical debt on credit report.

AndrewF — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:45:36 GMT

@pizzadude wrote:
Not sure if this was rolled back but this was announced / implemented in Jan last year:

The CFPB’s action will ban the inclusion of medical bills on credit reports used by lenders and prohibit lenders from using medical information in their lending decisions

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/

The ban in the State of Illinois is implemented by State law. It has nothing to do with the CFPB, and the federal court decision that struck down that rule doesn't apply to Illinois residents covered by the State law.

"(b) It is an unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act for a consumer reporting agency: (1) to make, create, or furnish any consumer report or credit report containing, incorporating, or reflecting any adverse information that the consumer reporting agency knows or should know relates to medical debt incurred by the consumer or a collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt; and (2) to maintain in the file on a consumer any information relating to medical debt incurred by a consumer or a collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt."

The law makes an exception. If you charge a medical debt to a credit card then don't pay the credit card, they *can* report that.

So don't do that.

Also, the State law doesn't mean that you don't owe that bill or that they can't sue you and look for something to take. It just means that it doesn't end up on your credit report.

Also, there's another law in Illinois now that says that the hospital has to screen you for charity care before taking any legal action against you, although to get protection from that, you have to work with them to help them screen you within 90 days of being presented with the bill.

https://healthcarevaluehub.org/wp-content/uploads/Illinois-Prevent-Medical-Debt.pdf

"Illinois requires most hospitals to provide charity care to uninsured patients earning up to
200% FPL, and discounted care to those earning up to 600% FPL. Rural and Critical Access
Hospitals have lower thresholds, offering full charity care up to 125% FPL and discounted care
up to 300% FPL. However, the cost of care must exceed $150 at urban hospitals or $300 at
rural hospitals. Hospitals cannot collect more than 20% of a qualifying patient’s annual income
in a year"

"Hospitals in Illinois are required to screen uninsured patients, with their consent, as early as
possible to determine eligibility for public health insurance and hospital financial assistance.
They are also required to help patients apply and to document any refusal to participate in the
screening process."

The law also requires the hospitals to document patients who refuse to be screened, and it also requires them to compile data on charity care screenings and report themselves to the Attorney General, including the top reason they used to deny charity care that year.

I'm not sure why people would opt out of being screened for charity care.

The worst thing that could happen is you don't get it and you still owe the original bill, but I guarantee they'll get more reasonable if they can't threaten your credit file and you say you can work something out for a discount.

They were panicking about the federal rule, because they know they can't sue everyone that owes the hospital money and their biggest threat was they'd ruin your credit and make it impossible to find good housing or get a good deal on a car to go to work or something.

Re: Illinois: No medical debt on credit report.

AndrewF — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 22:06:46 GMT

https://ilchiro.org/new-laws-affect-medical-debt/

The law might also make it illegal to report CareCredit delinquencies.

I don't know whether CareCredit would fall under this because the law says that if a credit card or open-ended loan can "only be used for medical expenses", then it can't be reported if it contains negative information.

It's possible?

Theoretically the argument might go that since you can put vet bills and dental and cosmetic procedures on a CareCredit, it may not "exclusively" be defined as medical expenses. The law doesn't specifically say what "medical" includes.

Nevertheless, if you have a delinquent CareCredit showing and you are an Illinois resident, you could argue to the bureaus that it's a revolving account used only for medical expenses and see what they do. There may be an opening for some case law here too if someone files a court case.