WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act which includes Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s (MI-13) bill that will provide much needed relief for consumers struggling medical debt. The Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act (H.R. 2537) would prohibit the collection of medical debt for two years and prohibit debt from “medically necessary” procedures from being included on one’s credit report.

“Nearly 1 in 5 adults have one or more medical debt collections listed on their credit report,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “That means one in five Americans may be denied housing, transportation, or other necessities because of a sudden health crisis or visit to the emergency room. That hits particularly hard in communities like mine, where residents already face challenges with access to credit. This bill will help increase opportunities for residents and is a major step in fixing our broken credit system.”

Tlaib’s bill will provide protections and safeguards to our residents to no fault of their own got sick and could not afford the medical care due to the broken health care system.

“Treating medical debt the same as other debt is not right and leads to irreparable harm to residents who simply just needed health and medical care,” Rep. Tlaib continued. “Medical debt is a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in our country and the pandemic has only made the medical debt crisis worse. No one chooses to get sick. Undergoing a medically necessary procedure should never haunt someone financially. It has no place on a credit report.”

The full text of the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act can be found here.

The bill will now head to the U.S. Senate for consideration.