The issue of healthcare debts is increasingly under the attention of the Biden administration. As is known, the volumes of insolvencies for medical expenses by American citizens are very high.
In the United States, debt exposure relating to unpaid medical expenses involves reporting to credit bureaus with the consequent worsening of the solvency rating expressed in the individual consumer’s credit report.
Vice President Kamala Harris herself highlighted the significant impact of medical debt on credit scores, underlining the fact that this hinders a good portion of Americans from obtaining loans such as purchasing cars or houses. Medical debt is a large burden for many Americans, with approximately 20 million people owing more than $250 to healthcare providers. This debt disproportionately affects latino people, as well as those who are low-income or uninsured.
For these reasons, the Biden administration has proposed deleting these alerts from credit reports for over 15 million Americans. The regulation is under discussion and is not yet in force. Once made official, it would prevent health service providers from communicating to credit bureaus and info providers information on debt exposures for medical services of individual citizens.
Obviously behind these interventions there is the political aim of obtaining greater consensus from a significant part of voters, demonstrating attention especially towards the Latino and less well-off electorate who are thought to benefit from these initiatives.
