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S. 1581 116th Congress Senate

Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019

Official title: A bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to institute a 1-year waiting period before medical debt will be reported on a consumer's credit report and to re… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to institute a 1-year waiting period before medical debt will be reported on a consumer's credit report and to remove paid-off and settled medical debts from credit reports that have been fully paid or settled, to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide a timetable for verification of medical debt and to increase the efficiency of credit markets with more perfect information, and for other purposes.

Introduced: May 21, 2019 Introduced by: Jeff Merkley Democratic · Oregon See on congress.gov
Finance and Financial Sector Consumer creditDebt collectionHealth care costs and insurance
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 21, 2019
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
May 21, 2019
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action May 21, 2019

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019

This bill modifies requirements related to the reporting of medical debt. Specifically, a consumer reporting agency may not add certain medical debt information to a consumer credit report. Also, a debt collector may not report certain medical debt information to a consumer reporting agency within a specified time period and must notify the consumer prior to reporting such medical debt.

 Related & companion bills 2
  • HR 5330 Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act
  • HR 6470 Medical Debt Relief Act of 2020
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 3
All 3 Democratic 3
D
Blumenthal, Richard
Connecticut · May 21, 2019
 D
Durbin, Richard J.
Illinois · May 21, 2019
 D
Warren, Elizabeth
Massachusetts · May 21, 2019
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1581: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-1581/
MLA
"S. 1581: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-1581/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1581, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-1581/.
Markdown link
[S. 1581: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2019](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-1581/)
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