Millions of Americans are burdened by medical debt because of a broken healthcare system that forces families to choose between life-saving care and financial ruin.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to remove medical debt from credit reports offers a lifeline to 15 million Americans, giving them the chance to rebuild their financial health and access loans, housing, and jobs without the unfair stain of medical debt.

Medical debt is unlike other forms of debt. It stems from crises beyond anyone’s control, an unexpected surgery, a cancer diagnosis, a premature birth. Yet credit bureaus like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian have weaponized these hardships, keeping families from moving forward by labeling them as high-risk borrowers. The CFPB’s rule will stop this injustice, ensuring credit reports reflect a person’s financial responsibility, not their misfortune.

Communities of color and low-income families bear the brunt of this predatory system. Black and Hispanic households are more likely to have medical debt reported to credit agencies, compounding decades of economic inequality. By eliminating medical debt from credit reports, the CFPB’s rule directly addresses these inequities and creates a more just financial system.

But powerful financial interests are fighting back. Wall Street has long profited from this system, using medical debt as a tool to deny credit and inflate lending costs. Their lobbyists are working overtime to attack the CFPB itself and to stop this rule from taking effect. If Congress doesn’t step in to defend the medical debt rule and the CFPB, families across the country will continue to suffer while corporations protect their bottom line.

This fight will give people a second chance after medical crises and ensure that no one is trapped in poverty because they got sick. The CFPB’s rule will help millions of Americans, but the CFPB itself and the medical debt rule need your support to survive industry attacks.

Tell Congress to stand with the CFPB and the millions of Americans who deserve financial relief.