Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced
Summary
Exclude medical debt from consumer credit reports and set a clear definition for what counts as medical debt, aiming to limit how medical bills affect credit decisions.
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- Consumers and families: Households with medical bills would face a lower risk of being denied credit or charged worse terms because of those debts.
- Creditors and lenders: Would be barred from obtaining or using a consumer's medical debt information when deciding whether to extend credit.
- Credit reporting agencies: The Fair Credit Reporting Act would be changed so adverse medical debt is not treated as standard adverse information on consumer reports.
- Regulators: The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would have 1 year to amend 12 C.F.R. § 1022.30 to implement the ban on using medical debt in credit decisions.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Remove medical debt from credit reports
If enacted, this bill would bar consumer reports from listing adverse information about medical debt. It would define medical debt as debts from medical services, products, or devices. The bill would also require the CFPB to issue a rule within one year after enactment banning creditors from obtaining or using a consumer's medical-debt information to decide whether to extend credit. If passed, households with medical bills could see fewer credit-score hits and fairer access to loans.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Cosponsors
Raphael Warnock
GA • D
Sponsored 7/29/2025
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 7/29/2025
Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA]
PA • D
Sponsored 7/29/2025
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 7/29/2025
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
NY • D
Sponsored 7/29/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov