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Biden administration announces plans to cut medical bills from credit reports (www.reuters.com)

submitted 1 year ago by spaceghoti@lemmy.one to c/politics@lemmy.world

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The Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to remove medical bills from Americans' credit reports in a push to end what it called coercive debt collection tactics that affect millions of consumers.

Proposals under consideration would help families financially recover from medical crises, stop debt collectors from coercing people into paying bills they may not even owe, and ensure that creditors are not relying on data that is often plagued with inaccuracies and mistakes, Vice President Kamala Harris and Rohit Chopra, the top consumer finance watchdog, announced.

Harris told reporters that more than 100 million Americans had unpaid medical debt.

"Many of the debts people have accrued are due to medical emergencies," she said. "We know credit scores determine whether a person can have economic health and wellbeing, much less the ability to grow their wealth."

Chopra's agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reported last year that roughly 20% of Americans have medical debt, but CFPB said its data also showed medical billing data is a poor indicator of whether consumers' are likely to pay down traditional debts.

The Brookings Institution think tank also found big gaps in medical debt statistics, with some 80% of debt held by households with zero or negative net worth, and communities of color hit especially hard. For instance, 27% of Black households hold medical debt compared with 16.8% of non-Black households.

According to the CFPB, the Fair Credit Reporting Act restricts the use of medical information in credit decisions and credit reports. The agency on Thursday announced policy outlines that could give rise to new regulations.

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[-] FReddit@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Thank you. I'm doing okay. I've been very lucky

But some of the billing is insane.

Back around 2000 an 11 year old niece had a brain aneurysm at school and air transport was required.

The parents were shocked to get an $8000 bill for the helicopter.

This Feb the tab for me was 143,000. But I had bought REACH air transport insurance.

The funny thing was, the pilots had to meet another copter at my destination anyway. So it really wasn't costing them anything.

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Wait... Did REACH charge you even though you have an annual membership?

[-] FReddit@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

They initially denied coverage.

But it turned out they needed documentation from the hospital to prove a legit medical emergency.

So they covered it, but there were a couple of months that were pretty scary.

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

I'm so sorry for your undue stress, but I'm glad they ultimately did the right thing. I was poring through REACH's T&S last night looking for anything that might get someone out of such a ridiculous bill and was going to call my airlift EMT cousin this morning to ask for advice if I couldn't come up with anything.

Keep us posted on your progress, I hope you get to share some good news soon.

[-] FReddit@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I was pretty lucky, aside from the financial stuff.

I had a long run of good health and then got slammed with a week in hospital with pneumonia, Covid and chemotherapy.

I walked away with it one piece, but somehow ended up with Type 2 diabetes. That was why I ended up in the helicopter -- uncontrollable diabetic ketoacidosis. Turns out I was allergic to the diabetes medication.

I'm doing well now. I have Covid again but still have my job.

[-] ZzyzxRoad@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

they needed documentation from the hospital to prove a legit medical emergency.

Do they think people are out there taking life fights in helicopters like they're taxis? So fucking ridiculous, I'm so sorry you even had to worry about something like that.

People who work for medical insurance companies need their heads examined. You must need a certain amount of psychopathy to get a paycheck from this kind of cruelty and then be able to sleep at night.

[-] FReddit@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

These people are predators.

A few years back a couple of friends got appendicitis in separate situations.

In both instances the insurers initially denied the claims. They claimed the procedures were not medically necessary.

Appendicitis is fatal.

These fuckers make vampires look like saints.

this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023

631 points (99.1% liked)

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