DEMOCRATIC SENATORS URGE CONSUMER PROTECTION VS INVOLUNTARY MEDICAL DEBT

A group of Democratic senators are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to address the nation’s ever-growing medical debt, Yahoo Finance senior editor Adriana Belmonte reported.

Sens. Chris Murphy, Chris van Hollen, Tammy Baldwin, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal penned a letter to CFPB to share concerns about the cost burden many Americans could face as a result of COVID-19.

“While the COVID relief packages passed by Congress have helped to defray some of these costs through financial subsidies and coverage for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, consumers are still paying associated health costs for treatment of the disease,” the senators stated.

“For those Americans who sought treatment out of their networks, they may bear the full cost of their COVID-19 treatments.” A survey from LendingTree found that a majority of Americans (60%) have been in medical debt with costs averaging between $5,000 to $9,999. Leading causes were emergency room visits (39%), visits with doctors and specialists (28%), childbirth and related care (22%), and dental care (20%).

“The problem is that [most] medical debt is involuntary,” Sen. Murphy told Yahoo Finance. “It’s not a choice.” The senators laid out a list of actions for the CFPB to take to address the issue.

The suggestions include prohibiting the furnishing of medical debt collection items to credit reporting agencies, requiring debt collectors to disclosure any applicable financial assistance or potential coverage plans, working with the IRS to issue an FAQ on Obamacare’s charity care provisions; require debt collectors to refrain from collecting or reporting on individuals if they state they’re in the process of appealing or disputing an insurance denial or billing or applying for financial assistance and limiting the number of collection calls placed per consumer.

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