“Medical Debt Responsibility Act of 2012” as of March 1, 2012 this bill was introduced before congress which has been read twice and referred to the Housing and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Banking. This bill would exclude medical bills from consumer credit reports of accounts that have been sent to collections and have been fully paid or settled and for other purposes.
This is a great bill with sole purpose to assist many Americans who are fighting diligently against medical bills and the many errors that come along with medical billing by doctors, insurance companies, and hospitals. I have selected a certain portion of this Bill to help give some insight into what this bill will entail.
Under Section 2: Findings and Purpose of the Bill states:
a) FINDINGS-Congress Finds that-
(1) “Medical debt is unique, and Americans do not choose when accidents happen or when illness strikes;
(2) Medical debt collection issues affect both insured and uninsured consumers,
(3) According to credit evaluators, medical debt collections are more likely to be in dispute, inconsistently reported, and of questionable value in predicting future payment performance because it is atypical and non-predictive.”
Under Section 3: Amendments to Fair Credit Reporting Act.
b) Exclusion for Paid or Settled Medical Debt-
(7)”Any Information related 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.”
The bill has bipartisan support in the House; states co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a North Carolina Democrat. Shuler says, “The health care industry sends delinquent bills to debt collectors quicker than any other industry.”
Many debt collectors are in support of the legislation according to ACA International, a trade association, which was a key enemy of an earlier bill was another group representing the nation’s credit bureaus.
We will see if this bill is passed sometime this year and help many American breathe a sigh of relief from the many hounding medical accounts. Of which has kept many consumers from obtaining a mortgage, auto loan or even a job because of medical collection accounts that have been paid but still will report the derogatory comment for 7 years.
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