Wyoming committee hears bill to bar medical debt from credit reports; amendment passes, full bill fails in committee

House Bill 195, proposed by Representative Provenza, would prohibit medical facilities and collection entities doing business in Wyoming from reporting medical debt to credit reporting agencies for use in consumer credit reports. The sponsor said the measure aims to prevent medical bills from lowering people’s credit scores and cited personal experience: “My father died in September of 2024 after refusing an ambulance because of his concern about debt,” Representative Provenza told the committee.

The bill would add a new provision to Wyoming’s consumer protection code (Title 40, Chapter 12) with definitions for “medical debt,” “collection entity” and “credit reporting agency,” and would allow courts to impose civil penalties on violators rather than automatically canceling the debt. Representative Provenza said the bill is narrow and limited to reporting to credit agencies; it would not change providers’ other collection tools.

Why this matters: Medical debt in collections is widespread in Wyoming, the sponsor said, and removing such data from credit reports…