Taking the Medical Debt Foot Off the Throats of Consumers

Any story about medical debt is inherently negative. I get it, and I love it. As a journalist, I’m inherently a glass-half-empty kind of person. But as I’ve mentioned before, when I do see good news, I’m compelled to write about it. Even medical debt.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier this month came out with its latest annual report on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Buried in the 54-page report are two pieces of good news.

First, consumers are complaining less about medical debt. Last year, consumers filed 7,000 actionable complaints about medical debt to the CFPB. That represented 11% of all actionable complaints in 2023. That’s down from 8,500 actionable complaints about medical debt in 2022. Medical debt represented 15% of all actionable complaints that year.

For what it’s worth, credit card debt drew the most consumer complaints in both 2024 and 2023.

Second, medical debt is shrinking as a share of consumers’ overall debt. Medical debt represented 36% of all consumer debt in 2023, according to the CFPB. That was still No. 1 with banking/financial a distant No. 2 at 19%. But it’s down from 57% of all consumers debt in 2022.

“This decline is likely related to the April 2023 credit reporting change, in which the three nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) announced that they removed unpaid medical collections under $500 from consumer credit reports,” the CFPB said.

Who’s to argue with the CFPB?

But I’m thinking the two bits of good news in an otherwise gloomy report are hints that hospitals, health systems, medical practices and debt collection agencies are taking their collective foot off the throats of consumers with unpaid medical bills just a little. They’re easing up because the problem of unaffordable medical debt has seeped into the national consciousness thanks to scorching research, reports, surveys, publicity and media coverage.

Who needs that, especially in an election year?

Thanks for reading.

To learn more about this topic, please read or listening to the following on 4sighthealth.com:

• September 2024: “Seeing the Possibilities in Harris’ Plans for Healthcare”
• September 2024: “The Secret to Getting a Fair, Timely and Accurate Medical Bill”
• July 2024: “Forgiving Student Loans for All Healthcare Workers May Save Your Life Someday”
• May 2024: “A Break in the Medical Affordability Crisis Clouds”
• February 2024: “The Medical Debt Wealth Transfer”
• December 2023: “The Complexity of Medical Bills Rolls Downhill for Consumers”
• November 2023: “Bankrupting Patients. Not a Good Business Strategy.”
• October 2023: “Unpaid Medical Bills and Consumer Credit Scores”
• July 2023: “Can We Regulate Ourselves Out of the Medical Debt Crisis”
• June 2023: “The Medical Debt Pyramid Scheme”