President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk along the Colonnade after Biden's remarks on the recent terrorist attacks in Israel, Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Last updated on June 13th, 2024 at 01:08 pm
Vice President Kamala Harris announced that medical debt will no longer be allowed to be counted against people’s credit scores, as the Biden administration takes another step to improve lives.
Harris told PoliticusUSA during a call with reporters:
Today, more than 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt. Usually, medical debt is the result of a medical emergency. An unplanned, unexpected expense, often of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And one of the most significant consequences of carrying medical debt is the harm it does to a person’s credit score.
Medical debt makes it more difficult for millions of Americans to be approved for a car loan, a home loan, or a small business loan. All of which in turn makes it more difficult to just get by, much less get ahead. And that is simply not fair. Especially when we know that people with medical debt are no less likely to repay a loan than those without medical debt.
No one should be denied access to economic opportunity simply because they experienced a medical emergency. So today I am proud to announce we will soon make it so that medical debt can no longer be included in your credit score. We are making it so that medical debt can not be used against you when you apply for a car loan, a home loan, or a small business loan, or something of that nature.
As a result of this change, millions of Americans will see an increase in their credit score on average of 20 points, which will mean every year an estimated 22, 000 more American families will be approved for a mortgage and able to buy a home.
….
From the start. Our administration, President Biden and I, and our administration have focused on relieving the burden of medical debt. We have forgiven over 650 million so far, and we plan to forgive another 7 billion, with a B, for millions of Americans across the nation. Today, I am then issuing a call to states, cities, and hospitals across our nation. To join us in forgiving medical debt, President Biden and I will continue to create a future where every person has the opportunity to build wealth and, in turn, build a stronger economy that benefits us all.
According to a White House Fact Sheet, “Today, Vice President Kamala Harris and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra announced a new action by the CFPB that would remove medical debt from credit reports of more than 15 million Americans, raising their credit scores by an average of 20 points and leading to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages every year. Under the CFPB proposed rule, there would be zero Americans with medical debt listed on their credit reports, down from 46 million in 2020. The Vice President also called upon states, local governments, and healthcare providers to take additional actions to reduce the burden of medical debt for millions of Americans, building upon the $7 billion in medical debt that is being eliminated by the end of 2026, thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP).”
Republicans have been proposing legislation and trying for years to abolish and get rid of the CFPB. If Republicans were successful, actions like the one on medical debt announced by Vice President Harris would disappear. Millions of Americans would have more debt and fewer protections. Everything from Biden’s reforms on junk fees charged by banks and credit card companies to medical debt not being counted against people would vanish if Trump and the GOP had their way.
Elections have consequences, and whether millions of Americans realize it or not, a second Trump term would make their lives much worse.
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