When a debt is seriously delinquent and the creditor sells the debt or refers the debt either to a collection agency or to an internal collection department, the collector or creditor can separately report the account to one or more of the three largest nationwide consumer reporting agencies (NCRAs) as an account in collections. The presence of a collections tradeline can have a negative impact on a consumer's credit score. There are currently an estimated 220 million consumers with a credit report at one or more of the NCRAs. Collections tradelines affect the reports of nearly one out of three of these consumers. Consumers are far more likely to dispute the accuracy of these tradelines than of other information contained on their credit reports. Roughly half of all collections tradelines that appear on credit reports are reported by debt collectors seeking to collect on medical bills claimed to be owed to hospitals and other medical providers. These medical debt collections tradelines affect the credit reports of nearly one-fifth of all consumers in the credit reporting system. This paper describes characteristics of the medical and non-medical collections tradelines on consumers' credit reports and the processes by which they appear and disappear. It draws on analysis of data contained in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Consumer Credit Panel (CCP); consumer complaints to the CFPB about collections; and interviews with debt collection agencies, healthcare providers, and other observers of the healthcare billing and payment processes. The CFPB has not sought to verify original research introduced in this paper through its supervisory authorities. The paper does not draw upon supervisory information the CFPB has learned through examinations it has conducted, and does not make conclusions about whether any specific market participants are in compliance with particular statutes or rules pertaining to consumer reporting.

Medical debt is the most common collection tradeline reported on consumer credit records. People also report being contacted by debt collectors about medical debt more than any other type of debt. While medical debt has long played an outsized role on credit reports, concerns about medical debt collections and reporting are particularly elevated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have incurred pandemic-related medical debt. Chapter 1 summarizes key areas of concern in medical debt collections and reporting. Chapter 2 reviews a bill to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A riveting exposé of medical debt collection in America -- and the profound financial and physical costs eroding patient trust in medicine For the crime of falling sick without wealth, Americans today face lawsuits, wage garnishment, home foreclosure, and even jail time. Yet who really profits from aggressive medical debt collection? And how does this predatory system affect patients and doctors responsible for their care? Your Money or Your Life reveals how medical debt collection became a multibillion-dollar industry and how everyday Americans are made to pay the price. Emergency physician and historian Luke Messac weaves patient stories into a history of law, finance, and medicine to show how debt and debt collection are destroying the foundational trust between doctors and patients at the heart of American healthcare. The fight to stop aggressive collection tactics has brought together people from all corners of the political spectrum. But if we want to better protect the sick from financial ruin, we have to understand how we got here. With wit and clarity, Your Money or Your Life asks us all to rethink the purpose of our modern healthcare system and consider whom it truly serves.