Senator Reverend Warnock leads the Democratic caucus in demanding the Trump administration explain its rollback of the medical debt rule finalized in January 2025

In the final days of the Biden Administration, Senator Warnock successfully pressed the CFPB to ban credit lenders from including medical bills in credit reports and prohibit lenders from using medical information in lending decisions

In Georgia, 27% of rural citizens have medical collections on their credit report, ten percentage points higher than the national average due in part to the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and 26 other senators pushed the Trump administration for answers regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) decision to vacate the medical debt rule finalized in January 2025. The letter demands CFPB share any data the agency relied on in deciding to petition a court to vacate the rule and any communications it had with entities during the process that would profit from its decision.

“On April 30, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a court to vacate the agency’s recently released rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports. We write to request the information you relied on in making that determination, including any communications with collection agencies that stand to profit from it,” the senators said.

“Medical debt collections information is often inaccurate, and studies show that it is not useful in determining a consumer’s ability to repay other debts…Almost half of all medical bills contain at least one error, and almost half of nonprofit hospitals have routinely and mistakenly billed patients who were eligible for free or discounted care,” they continued.

At the conclusion of the letter, the senators emphasize the need for transparency into the agency’s decision-making process.

“On April 30, the CFPB filed a joint motion with the industry groups that oppose the rule, petitioning the court to vacate it – lining the pockets of corporations off the backs of American consumers. Given the substantial evidence that the CFPB’s rule was well-considered and would help consumers without reducing the accuracy of their credit scores, we write to request that the CFPB make public all information relied on by the agency in its decision to drop the rule, including any communications with the debt collection industry,”the senators closed.

Senator Warnock continues to stand up in defense of Georgia consumers by holding the CFPB under President Trump accountable. In February, Senator Warnock questioned Trump administration CFPB nominees at a Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing. During the hearing, Senator Warnock asked the nominees if they agreed with President Trump on the CFPB being, ‘A very important thing to get rid of’ and if the agency would address the 266,560 outstanding complaints from Georgians in a timely manner. In May, President Trump withdrew his nominee for the CFPB. OMB Director Russell Vought serves as acting director of the agency.

In Georgia, roughly 640,000 people don’t have access to affordable health care because state leaders have refused to expand Medicaid. 27% of rural citizens have medical collections on their credit report – ten percentage points higher than the national average. Senator Warnock has a long track record of working to address the harmful consequences of medical debt on working families including calling on the CFPB to establish an ombudsman position for consumer medical debt and urging the CFPB to protect Americans from predatory medical debt collection practices. 

In addition to Senators Warnock, Warren, Schumer, and Merkley the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angus King (I-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).

Read the full letter HERE, and the text is below

Dear Acting Director Vought,

On April 30, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a court to vacate the agency’s recently released rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports. We write to request the information you relied on in making that determination, including any communications with debt collection agencies that stand to profit from it. 

Medical debt collections information is often inaccurate, and studies show that it is not useful in determining a consumer’s ability to repay other debts. One major credit scoring company, VantageScore, has stopped using medical debt in its newer models entirely. Almost half of all medical bills contain at least one error, and almost half of nonprofit hospitals have routinely and mistakenly billed patients who were eligible for free or discounted care. People often receive collection notices for debts they did not owe, in the wrong amount, or that should have been covered by insurance—but still end up experiencing long-lasting damage to their credit scores.

Listing medical debt on a person’s credit report drives down their credit score, which hurts their ability to purchase a car, buy a home or rent an apartment, get utility service, start a business, or access other banking services. This has profound effects on families that can last generations. To make matters worse, medical debt is the most common reason debt collectors contact consumers; the debt collection industry makes one-fourth of its annual revenue from health care debt. Including medical debt on credit reports makes consumers more vulnerable to predatory debt collection practices.

Medical debt on credit reports also blocks working families from access to credit that they would be able to repay.The CFPB found that people who had all their medical debts completely removed from their credit reports experienced an average credit score increase of 20 points, in some cases elevating families into a higher credit score tier. 

In response to growing data that medical debt is not a good indicator of creditworthiness, states across the country have acted to ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. And on January 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports. The rule would remove an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of 15 million Americans, prohibit credit reporting companies from sharing medical debt information with lenders, and bar lenders from considering medical debt in underwriting decisions. It was designed to help the millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet, by lowering costs and increasing access to affordable credit for working families without affecting the predictive value of their credit reports. The rule would also help reduce the effects of structural racism and other prejudices. People of color are disproportionately harmed by the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. Meanwhile, adults with a disability and new moms are more than twice as likely to carry medical debt.

Despite the critical importance of the medical debt rule, on April 30, the CFPB filed a joint motion with the industry groups that oppose the rule, petitioning the court to vacate it—lining the pockets of corporations off the backs of American consumers. Given the substantial evidence that the CFPB’s rule was well-considered and would help consumers without reducing the accuracy of their credit scores, we write to request that the CFPB make public all information relied on by the agency in its decision to drop the rule, including any communications with the debt collection industry, by July 28, 2025. We specifically request that CFPB publicly publish all data about how medical debt relates to key economic indicators, including:

• Barriers to home and car ownership, including challenges getting loans or not being approved to rent or lease,
• Paying higher premiums for auto, homeowner’s and other types of insurance,
• Losing job opportunities as a result of credit reporting on background checks,
• Obstacles to starting small businesses because of challenges with securing loans,
• Paying more for everyday services such as household utilities or cell phone contracts

We are particularly concerned about the outsize impact that medical debt has on the credit scores of seniors, veterans, new parents, people with disabilities, cancer patients and survivors, and small business owners.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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