{"id":44871,"date":"2025-11-03T12:51:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44871"},"modified":"2025-11-03T12:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:51:18","slug":"trump-cfpb-moves-to-bar-states-from-wiping-medical-debt-off-credit-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/03\/trump-cfpb-moves-to-bar-states-from-wiping-medical-debt-off-credit-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump CFPB Moves to Bar States From Wiping Medical Debt Off Credit Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Russell<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks during a news conference on September 29, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One consumer advocate said the effort adds \u201csalt to the wound\u201d as tens of millions of people face healthcare premium spikes that are likely to worsen the nation\u2019s medical debt crisis.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oct 28, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration<\/a> is moving to undercut state-level efforts to wipe medical debt<\/a> from Americans\u2019 credit reports, just as millions across the country are facing massive healthcare<\/a> premium increases stemming from congressional Republicans<\/a>\u2019 refusal to extend Affordable Care Act<\/a> subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, according to reporting by The Lever<\/a><\/em> and Bloomberg Law<\/a><\/em>, the Russell Vought-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/a> (CFPB<\/a>) will publish a nonbinding interpretive rule<\/a> arguing that federal statute \u201cgenerally preempts state laws that touch on areas of credit reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump Admin Weighs Privatizing Student Loans, Fulfilling Another Project 2025 Objective<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Nurse<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

75% of US Voters Are Concerned About Surging Healthcare Premiums<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The guidance aligns with views expressed<\/a> by a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas<\/a> who, earlier this year, vacated<\/a> a Biden-era CFPB rule<\/a> that would have prohibited the inclusion of medical debt on consumer credit reports. The Trump administration, which has repeatedly violated court orders, is complying<\/a> with the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical debt is a growing crisis in the United States<\/a>: Roughly 14 million adults<\/a> owe more than $1,000 in medical debt, and an estimated 20% of Americans have medical debt on their credit reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters of removing medical debt from credit reports argue it is not a reliable measure of creditworthiness. The Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at UC Berkeley notes<\/a> that \u201cmedical debt often reflects the simple misfortune of getting sick unexpectedly and having to face a medical system that is rife with insurance stonewalling, delay, and mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a dozen states\u2014including California<\/a>, Colorado<\/a>, and New York\u2014have moved to curb the reporting of medical debt, which accounts for a significant percentage of personal bankruptcies<\/a> in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lever<\/em> reported that the Trump administration\u2019s position that federal law overrides state laws is being echoed \u201cby industry groups to advance their ongoing litigation to overturn the 15 state laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example,\u201d the outlet observed, \u201cthe Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents credit reporting companies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, is likewise arguing<\/u><\/a> that federal laws void state-level regulations of their conduct as part of their effort to block Maine\u2019s medical debt law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, told Bloomberg Law<\/em> that the Trump CFPB\u2019s assault on efforts to remove medical debt from credit reports adds \u201csalt to the wound\u201d as tens of millions of people face surging healthcare premiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing for MSNBC<\/em> over the weekend, Century Foundation president Julie Margetta Morgan warned that \u201cthe spike in premiums won\u2019t just blow an even bigger hole in families\u2019 future budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will pour gasoline on the already raging fire of medical debt in this country,\u201d she added, \u201cand government leaders at all levels are not prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks during a news conference on September 29, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images) One consumer advocate said the effort adds \u201csalt to the wound\u201d as tens of millions of people face healthcare premium spikes that are likely… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44871"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44872,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44871\/revisions\/44872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}