Money Minute: Medical debt and your credit score
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- We all know how expensive health care is. It's easy to quickly get into medical debt if you're not able to stay on top of it. But in this week's "Money Minute," KDKA-TV money editor Jon Delano explains how to make sure that debt doesn't impact your credit score.
One out of five households has reported overdue payments on medical debt and debt collectors hound families for payment on this kind of debt more than others.
In 2021, 43 million people had unpaid medical bills included on their credit reports.
Thanks to an act of Congress in 2022, the three nationwide credit agencies have removed all paid medical debt from credit reports and all unpaid medical debt under $500.
Credit agencies cannot report medical debt if it is uncollected for less than a year. In other words, you have at least a year to deal with the issue. That could help about half of the 43 million affected.
If you have medical debt and it is on your credit report, you can dispute it with the credit reporting company. If they don't help, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
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