Another day, another state looking to prohibit medical debt from being included on consumers’ credit reports. This time it’s Illinois, which voted a bill out of committee this week and advanced it to the full state Senate for its consideration.
What and Who: SB2933 was introduced in late January by state Sen. Steve Stadelman, a Democrat who has been in the state legislature since 2012.
The Details: The bill defines medical debt as a debt arising from the receipt of health care services, products, or devices. It defines collection agencies as any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, co-operative, association, government or government subdivision, agency or other entity that either purchases medical debt or collects medial debt on behalf of another entity.
- If enacted, under Illinois’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, it would become an unlawful practice for a credit reporting agency to furnish any credit report containing adverse information that relates to medical debt and to maintain in the file on a consumer any information relating to medical debt incurred by a consumer.
- Unlike some state bills, that include other provisions against certain collection activities, this is the extent of state Sen. Stadelman’s proposal. The bill was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday and has been placed on the calendar for the full Senate to review.
The Last Word: “Medical debt should not serve as a barrier to financial stability and opportunity,” said Sen. Stadelman, in a statement. “No one should have to endure the added stress of damaged credit due to medical expenses beyond their control. This legislation is about ensuring fairness and equity for consumers, regardless of their health status.”
