Overshadowed by the Appeals Court ruling on the CFPB’s funding structure and the enforcement action against Portfolio Recovery Associates late last week was the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives that aims to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to institute a two-year prohibition on the …
Read More »AHA Pushes Back on Medical Debt Report
The American Hospital Association is fighting back after a report was released last week that said about 15% of all non-elderly adults are carrying some amount of unpaid medical debt, saying that the report failed to mention the underlying root-causes of the problem while also failing “to appreciate the looming …
Read More »Bill Introduced in Illinois to Ease Medical Debt Burden
The Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would require hospitals screen individuals without health insurance before initiating any collection activity while also prohibiting the sale of medical debt. To help advance the legislation and bring attention to the medical debt problem in Illinois, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and …
Read More »15% of All Adults Carrying Past-Due Medical Debt: Study
More than 60% of individuals with unpaid medical bills have been contacted by a collection agency to recover those debts, according to a report released yesterday by the Urban Institute. The report also disclosed than about 15% of all non-elderly adults living in the United States are carrying some amount …
Read More »Hearing Scheduled to Debate Colorado Medical Collection Bill
The Attorney General of Colorado, flanked by members of the state legislature, consumers, and other consumer advocates, yesterday held a news conference in support of their proposed bill that would cap the interest rate on medical debt, establish requirements on medical debt payment plans, and make violations of surprise or …
Read More »Draft Medical Debt Collection Bill Circulating in Colorado
A bill is being circulated in the Colorado legislature — which is also backed by the state’s Attorney General — that would cap the interest rate on medical debt, establish requirements on medical debt payment plans, and make violations of surprise or balance billing laws a deceptive trade practice, among …
Read More »State AG Investigating Healthcare Provider for ‘Aggressive’ Collection Practices
The Attorney General of Minnesota is investigating the billing and collection practices of a well-know healthcare provider, following a published report that detailed how the provider is filing collection lawsuits to recover unpaid medical debts from low-income patients. A spokesman for Keith Ellison, the AG of Minnesota, said that the …
Read More »Survey Details Medical Debt Issues for Americans
More than one-third of respondents to a survey conducted by the education arm of a financial institution are carrying medical debt, and 82% of those people are having problems paying it off, according to a report highlighting the survey’s findings. For those who have medical debt, 70% said that the …
Read More »Federal Gov’t Instructs Agencies to Remove Medical Debt from Loan Underwriting Factors
The federal government, noting it has “a responsibility to set the standard for how medical debt is treated,” announced yesterday that it is instructing its agencies with direct loan and guarantee programs to “wherever possible” reduce the impact of medical debt when making underwriting decisions. The announcement is the latest …
Read More »Nursing Homes Suing Friends and Family of Residents to Recover Unpaid Debts: Report
As part of its ongoing investigation into how medical debts affect individuals across the country, Kaiser Health News (KHN) and National Public Radio (NPR) have published an article that details how some nursing homes are filing lawsuits to collect on unpaid debts, and the friends and family members of those …
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