Medical debt no longer tanks your credit score under new bill
S. 4622 — PATCH Act · Filed by John Kennedy (R-LA) · Introduced May 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit credit reporting agencies from including medical debt on consumer credit reports and bars creditors from using medical debt information when deciding whether to extend credit. Medical debt is defined as debt arising from receipt of medical services, products, or devices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must issue regulations within one year to enforce the creditor prohibition.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward prohibition on medical-debt reporting and use in credit decisions. It is a consumer-protection measure that removes a specific category of debt from credit scoring and lending decisions.
What the text implies
- Medical debt exclusion may reduce credit-risk pricing accuracy for lenders, potentially leading to higher interest rates or stricter lending standards for non-medical borrowers to offset losses.
- Consumers with significant medical debt may find it easier to obtain credit, but lenders may respond by tightening underwriting on other factors (income verification, employment history) to compensate.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
consumers with medical debt; patient advocacy organizations; healthcare providers (reduced collection pressure on patients)