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Advocates press Maryland to bar medical debt from consumer reports; industry warns of federal preemption
Summary
Delegate Julie Kolonkovich Carr presented HB1020 to prohibit reporting medical debt on consumer credit reports. Legal aid, AARP, community health centers and consumer advocates supported the bill, while consumer reporting industry and debt buyers warned it conflicts with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and urged narrower, consistent definitions.
Delegate Julie Kolonkovich Carr told the committee HB1020 would prohibit inclusion of medical debt on consumer (credit) reports, citing federal regulatory uncertainty after a paused CFPB rule and arguing medical debt is a poor predictor of credit risk and disproportionately harms older adults and veterans.
"One in five Americans have some amount of medical debt," the sponsor said, adding that the median medical debt amount in cited research is modest and that such entries on credit reports can nonetheless impede access to housing, employment and credit.
A broad coalition urged a favorable report. Marceline White (Economic Action Maryland) and William Steinweidl (Maryland Legal Aid) described state‑level harms: between 2009 and 2018, Maryland saw tens of thousands of medical‑debt lawsuits with median targeted debts under $1,000 and resulting wage garnishments and bankruptcies. AARP Maryland emphasized that people 50 and older often carry medical debt and that Medicare beneficiaries can face substantial cost‑sharing.
Opponents included the Consumer Data Industry Association, which argued the state measure conflicts with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and explained recent voluntary industry changes that removed many small or older medical debts. PRA Group urged a definition consistent with the federal rule to avoid uncertainty about which obligations qualify as medical debt.
The sponsor provided an amendment narrowing the bill's medical‑debt definition after discussions with the Attorney General's Office and the Health Services Cost Review Commission; committee members asked for further engagement between stakeholders on preemption, definitions and implementation.
