PATCH Act
Sponsored By: Senator Kennedy, John [R-LA]
Introduced
Summary
Limits the use of medical debt in credit reports and credit decisions. This bill would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to define "medical debt" and to exclude adverse information tied to medical bills from standard consumer reporting. It would also direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to change rules so creditors cannot obtain or use medical debt information when deciding whether to extend credit.
Show full summary
- Families and borrowers: Medical bills would be excluded from adverse information used in credit reports, limiting their role in credit scores and lending decisions.
- Consumer reporting agencies: Could still collect medical debt records for some purposes, but the bill changes how that data is treated and shown in reports.
- Creditors and regulators: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would have 1 year after enactment to amend rules to prohibit creditors from obtaining or using medical-debt information when making credit decisions.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Prevent medical debt from hurting credit
If enacted, the bill would define medical debt as debt from medical services, products, or devices. It would keep adverse medical-debt items out of consumer credit reports, including bills sent to collections or charged off. Credit reporting agencies could still collect that information, but lenders would be barred from using it when deciding to extend credit. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would have one year after enactment to update its rule, and the bill would remove old exceptions that treated medical contact information differently.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Kennedy, John [R-LA]
LA • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov