Medical Debt Rights: New CFPB Rules and How to Fight Medical Collections

The CFPB 2025 Medical Debt Rule

In January 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule banning medical debt from credit reports. The rule: prohibits credit bureaus from including medical debt in consumer credit reports; bars lenders from using medical debt information in credit decisions; and removes all existing medical debt entries from reports within 60 days of the rule's effective date.

This is the single largest change to credit reporting since the FCRA's medical data provisions were last updated. If you currently have medical collections on your report, you may be entitled to their removal regardless of how old or large they are.

How to Remove Medical Debt From Your Report Now

1. Pull your current credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com
2. Identify all medical collection accounts
3. File disputes citing the 2025 CFPB medical debt rule and requesting immediate removal
4. If the bureau disputes your removal request, file a CFPB complaint

The No-Surprise Billing Act

The No Surprises Act (effective January 2022) protects you from unexpected out-of-network bills in emergency situations. Under this law:

• Emergency care must be billed at in-network rates regardless of the hospital's network status
• Surprise billing for non-emergency services at in-network facilities is banned unless you consent in advance
• You cannot be billed more than the in-network cost-sharing amount for covered services

If you receive a surprise bill that violates the No Surprises Act, you can dispute it through the federal dispute resolution process at cms.gov.

Negotiating Medical Debt

Unlike credit card debt, medical debt is often highly negotiable:

• Most hospitals have charity care programs for low-to-middle income patients — ask for the financial counselor, not the billing department
• Hospital billing departments routinely accept 30–60% of the stated amount as payment in full
• Federal law (ACA) requires nonprofit hospitals to have charity care programs — get a copy of the hospital's charity care policy before paying anything
• Medical debt that is sold to a third-party collector is subject to the same FDCPA protections as any other debt

Itemized Billing Statement

You have the right to an itemized billing statement for any medical services. Request one before paying any medical bill. Common billing errors to look for: duplicate charges, charges for services not received, upcoding (billing for a more expensive service than was provided), and unbundling (billing separately for services that should be grouped).

For more on collections generally, see our collections and charge-offs guide and the full FCRA rights overview.