rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/keep-medical-debt-off-credit-reports?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-keep-medical-debt-off-credit-reports' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Americans for Financial Reform https://actionnetwork.org/groups/afr-advocacy-fund-c4 https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/014/858/original/AFR_Action_Network_Default_(1).png?1738796429 Excessive, crippling medical debt is happening -- but there is an agency working to change that. The brutal reality of our healthcare systems is that millions of us are just one catastrophic accident or serious illness away from financial ruin. It’s a for-profit industry with too little care and too much cost. Communities of color living in states that have refused to expand their Medicaid programs bear the brunt of this, as they’re more likely to be uninsured and have fewer protections. The negative repercussions of huge medical bills can last for years -- even decades -- due to the impact on credit scores, creating challenges in buying a car, renting a home, or even getting a new job. The scope of the problem is immense. More than 100 million people in America are saddled with significant medical debt[1]. In many cases this debt is a crippling additional burden on top of a potentially already devastating medical diagnosis such as heart disease or cancer. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling foul and planning a new protection that would bar the use of medical debt for credit eligibility considerations. In other words, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- or any other debt reporting agency -- will no longer be able to include unpaid medical debt in your credit score. The new protection would also prevent debt collectors from pressuring consumers to pay inaccurate or fraudulent medical bills, and prohibit lenders from using medical devices (such as wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs) as collateral or repossessing them if loans are unpaid. This new plan has to make it through the public comment period, and CFPB needs to hear from real people about their challenges with medical debt. Health insurance companies, Big Pharma, and Wall Street private equity are doing everything they can to stop the CFPB from succeeding. That’s where we come in. The CFPB needs our help to push the new rule over the finish line with a groundswell of public comments in support. Click ‘Start Writing’ to submit your official public comment in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new plan requiring Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- or any other debt reporting agency -- to stop including unpaid medical debt on credit reports. [1] 100 Million People in America Are Saddled With Health Care Debt https://actionnetwork.org/letters/keep-medical-debt-off-credit-reports