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Experts and industry clash over whether D.C. can bar medical debt on credit reports
Summary
Consumer advocates told the Committee on Health that recent CFPB guidance and a Texas opinion are not binding and that D.C. can prohibit furnishing medical debt; industry witnesses and credit bureaus said the bill's reporting restrictions risk preemption under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
A central legal dispute at the Dec. 15 hearing concerned whether the Medical Debt Mitigation Amendment Act's ban on reporting medical debt to consumer reporting agencies would be preempted by federal law. Chi Chi Wu of the National Consumer Law Center told the committee the October 2025 CFPB interpretive rule "is also not legally binding" and urged the council to add anti-consideration language and contractual requirements on debt collectors to strengthen preemption resistance.
Credit industry witnesses pushed back. Zachary Taylor of the Consumer Data Industry Association said the industry believes the bill's credit-reporting limits "are preempted by the Federal FCRA" and urged removing those provisions. Taylor noted current industry changes (omitting debts under a year and under $500) have already removed a substantial portion of medical debt from consumer reports.
Former CFPB staff and academic researchers testifying for advocates, including Brad Lipton and Dr. Nishant Thapal, cited appellate precedent and empirical studies suggesting states can limit what information appears on consumer reports. Both sides told the committee courts will have the final say if litigation follows. Chair Henderson asked OAG to provide legal guidance to ensure the committee does not exceed federal constraints before markup.
The committee did not resolve the preemption question at the hearing; OAG (Wendy Weinberg) agreed to work with committee counsel on legal sufficiency and stronger language to reduce litigation risk.
