Another Huge Biden Win: Medical Debt to Disappear From Credit Reports July 1
This is just another example of the Biden/Harris administration's commitment to helping average Americans improve their health outcomes.
We are literally the only developed country in the world without a single-payer national healthcare system.
We are also the only developed country in which healthcare costs are the leading cause of bankruptcies. 15 million Americans have to shoulder the burden of medical debt, totaling $88 billion, on their credit reports, affecting their ability to rent, purchase homes and vehicles, obtain loans, and more effectively participate in the economy, which harms us all.
There are myriad reasons for this, the primary one being we have a Supreme Court that decided no fewer than three times that money equals free speech and corporations are people. Under these auspices, the healthcare lobby, being as rich as it is, holds more sway over lawmakers than you and I. As a result, being sick is more profitable than being well. Thatās why so many relatively routine medical procedures intended to circumvent more severe issues get denied: more expensive treatments guarantee more profits.Ā
Fortunately, a key provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka āObamacare,ā preventing insurance companies from dropping people from their policies when people become too expensive helps reduce the instances of this happening, as does the list of preventive procedures insurance plans must cover. But it doesnāt go far enough.
Despite paying the most for healthcare coverage, there are still millions of uninsured and under-insured in America. Until we establish a national healthcare system that covers all men, women, and children from birth to death as a basic human right, we will always see too many needlessly succumb to the healthcare industryās greed and inequity.
In another act to improve average Americansā lives, however, the Biden administration recently announced a plan to wipe medical debt from peopleās credit reports.Ā
First announced in September at an event with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) head Rohit Chopra, Vice President Kamala Harris stated:
No one in this country should have to go into debt to get the quality health care they need. These measures will improve the credit scores of millions of Americans so that they will better be able to invest in their future.
When will it kick in?
Three weeks from now, on July 1.
Beginning on that date, the three largest credit agenciesāāāEquifax, Experian, and TransUnion--must no longer include paid medical debt in peopleās credit reports. This will eliminate about 70% of negative scores.Ā
Moreover, those who owe more than $500 will have more time to pay; those owing less than that amount will not see it reflected in their credit reports at all.
While this does not solve the problem a national healthcare system will, it is a huge course correction intended to help people gain a more stable financial footing, which will, in turn improve the overall economy.
This is just another example of the Biden/Harris administrationās commitment to helping average Americans improve their health outcomes.
Two years ago, the āNo Surprises Act,ā banning most unexpected medical charges from out-of-network providers, took effect.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) invests $100 billion to expand health insurance subsides for policies purchased on ACA exchanges. This means 13 million families covered under the Affordable Care Act are seeing health insurance costs decreased by an average of $800 a year, and three million more Americans are now insured.
Medicare recipientsā insulin costs are capped at $35 per month for almost four million diabetic seniors on Medicare, which can now Medicare negotiate for more affordable pharmaceutical drugs. Also capped at $35 a month are inhalers for tens of millions.
These are just a few consequential health care accomplishments in a long and growing list the Biden administration can boast of going into the November election.