# 119-s-2519: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025

119-s-2519, Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-25).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2519
- As of: 2026-07-25
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-2519
- Congress: 119
- Title: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-07-29
- Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Cosponsors: 5
- Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-25

## Summary

**Bans the reporting and use of medical debt in credit decisions.** This bill would add a clear definition of "medical debt" to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and stop medical bills from being treated as adverse credit information. It also directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue a regulation within one year to block creditors from obtaining or using medical-debt information when deciding to extend credit. - Families and patients: Medical bills would no longer appear as adverse items on credit reports, including debts placed for collection or charged off. This reduces a common reason for credit score damage. - Lenders and creditors: Creditors would be prohibited from obtaining or relying on medical-debt information when making lending decisions, with the CFPB required to update rules within 1 year. - Credit reporting agencies and data users: The bill changes the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exclude medical debt from the category of reportable adverse information and narrows special handling rules for medical contact and medical information.

## Cosponsors (5)

- Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA] (D-GA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Limits medical debt on credit reports: benefit, medium. This bill would add a definition of "medical debt" as bills from medical services, products, or devices. It would bar consumer reports from including any adverse information about medical debt, including debt sent to collections or charged off. It would remove statutory exceptions that treated medi…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act

## Sources
- [119-s-2519 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2519)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2519 (as of 2026-07-25).