Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock is among those pushing the Biden Administration to remove medical debt from credit reports.
During a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Wednesday, Senator Warnock questioned the Consumer Financial Protection Director Rohit Chopra about the benefits of blocking medical debt from appearing on consumers’ credit reports.
Supporters say the move could raise credit scores, resulting in the cost of other loans, like car loans or credit cards, decreasing.
“I often say that it is expensive to be poor, and this is an example of that. People burdened by medical debt dragging down credit scores, the cost of money goes up,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “This is something we've been pushing on, I applaud you for proposing this rule, which would be life-changing for so many people across the country, certainly throughout the South, who are drowning in medical debt and bad credit, often while dealing with health challenges on top of this. This is enough to make anybody sick and sicker.
Warnock said 27% of rural Georgians have medical collections on their credit report. That number is six percentage points higher than the rest of the state and 10% higher than the national average.
You can find the full remarks here.
