The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday published a research report which updates previously released data on the number of consumers who have medical debt collection tradelines on their credit reports. The report professes that 15 million consumers have a medical account in their credit report, but the share of consumers with a medical debt on their credit report has dropped to 5% of those with a credit record as of June 2023, down from 14% in March 2022, when the data was originally released.
Interestingly enough, the report notes that those who still have medical debt collection tradelines on their credit reports have lower credit scores and are more likely to live in lower-income areas than consumers who had medical debts on their credit reports in March 2022.
The balance on medical debts showing up on consumers’ credit reports is also higher than it was in March 2022 – rising to $3,149 from $2,091. That is likely due to the fact that no consumers had medical debt tradelines for less than $500 on their credit report in June 2023. In total, the amount of medical debt reported on consumer credit reports fell by 38% between March 2022 and June 2023, according to the report.
Geographically, consumers living in the Southern states are more likely to still have a debt on their credit report, compared with consumers living in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and Northeastern portions of the country.
Demographically, the percentage of individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 and between 30 and 44 who had a medical debt on their credit report actually went up from March 2022 to June 2023. Thirty-seven percent of consumers between 30 and 44 had a medical debt collection item on their credit report in June 2023, up from 33.5% in March 2022. The percentage of those with a medical debt between the ages of 45 and 61 stayed the same and the percentage for individuals over the age of 62 dropped.
