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S. 214 117th Congress Senate

Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021

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: February 3, 2021 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 117th Congress ended
It never became law before the 117th Congress (2021–2022) 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
Feb 3, 2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Feb 3, 2021
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action February 3, 2021

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

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021

This bill modifies requirements related to the reporting of medical debt. Specifically, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from adding medical debt information to a consumer credit report if the debt

  • was fully paid or settled, or
  • is less than a year old.

Additionally, a debt collector must notify the consumer prior to reporting medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 773 Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Democratic 2
D
Blumenthal, Richard
Connecticut · Feb 3, 2021
 D
Van Hollen, Chris
Maryland · Feb 3, 2021
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 214: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021. 117th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-214/
MLA
"S. 214: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021." 117th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-214/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 214, 117th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-214/.
Markdown link
[S. 214: Medical Debt Relief Act of 2021](https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-214/)
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