In late March, the three major credit bureaus announced significant changes to how medical debt will affect Americans’ credit scores. On July 1, paid medical collections will disappear from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports. Previously, these could have remained for up to seven years. Also, unpaid medical collections will not appear on credit reports unless they’ve been in collections for at least a year (up from six months currently). And beginning next year, medical debts under $500 will no longer appear on credit reports.
These are very consumer-friendly developments. About 70 percent of medical debt will be removed from Americans’ credit reports once the aforementioned changes take effect, according to the credit bureaus.
How medical debt affects people
