,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #afj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,january #bh1 #bjac 
,mr4 ,merkley 7for himself1 ,mr4        
,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,brown1 ,mr4 ,durbin1 
,mr4 ,harkin1 ,mr4 ,menendez1 and ,mr4  
,schumer7 introduced the following bill2
 which was read twice and referred to   
the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1   
and ,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
exclude from consumer credit reports    
medical debt that has been in collection
 and has been fully paid or settled1 and
 for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title  
,this ,act may be cited as the ,medical 
,debt ,responsibility ,act of #bjac4    
#b4 ,findings and purpose  7a7 ,findings
 ,congress finds that--  7#a7 medical   
debt is unique1 and ,americans do not   
choose when accidents happen or when    
illness strikes2  7#b7 medical debt     
collection issues affect both insured   
and uninsured consumers2  7#c7 according
 to credit evaluators1 medical debt     
collections are more likely to be in    

dispute1 inconsistently reported1 and of
 questionable value in predicting future
 payment performance because it is      
atypical and nonpredictive2  7#d7       
nevertheless1 medical debt that has been
 completely paid off or settled can     
significantly damage the credit score of
 a consumer for years2  7#e7 as a       
result1 consumers may be denied credit  
or pay higher interest rates when buying
 a home or obtaining a credit card2     
7#f7 healthcare providers are           
increasingly turning to outside         
collection agencies to help secure      
payment from patients1 coming at the    
expense of the consumer1 because medical
 debts are not typically reported unless
 they become assigned to collections2   
7#g7 in fact1 medical bills account for 
more than half of all non-credit related
 collection actions reported to consumer
 credit reporting agencies2  7#h7 the   
issue of medical debt affects millions  
of consumers2  7#i7 according to the    
,commonwealth ,fund1 medical bill       

problems or accrued medical debt affects
 roughly #gc1jjj1jjj working-age adults 
in ,america2 and  7#aj7 in #bjaj1       
#cj1jjj1jjj working-age ,american adults
 were contacted by a collection agency  
for unpaid medical bills4  7b7 ,purpose 
,it is the purpose of this ,act to      
exclude from consumer credit reports    
medical debt that had been characterized
 as debt in collection for credit       
reporting purposes and has been fully   
paid or settled4  #c4 ,amendments to    
fair credit reporting ,act  7a7 ,medical
 debt defined ,section #fjc of the ,fair
 ,credit ,reporting ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 
#afha;a7 is amended by adding at the end
 the following3  7z7 ,medical debt ,the 
term medical debt means a debt described
 in section #fjd7;g77#a77;,c74  4  7b7  
,exclusion for paid or settled medical  
debt ,section #fje7;a7 of the ,fair     
,credit ,reporting ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4  
#afha;c7a77 is amended by adding at the 
end the following3  7#g7 ,any           
information related to a fully paid or  

settled medical debt that had been      
characterized as delinquent1 charged    
off1 or in collection which1 from the   
date of payment or settlement1 antedates
 the report by more than #de days4  4