1y ago

In sweeping change, Biden administration to ban medical debt from credit reports | The rule, first reported by ABC News, could go into effect sometime next year.

abcnews.go.com

In sweeping change, Biden administration to ban medical debt from credit reports

For context, the poor credit ratings which go with medical debt are concentrated in the south, where states have limited the reach of medical safety-net programs.:

U.S. News @beehaw.org

coyotino [he/him] @beehaw.org

1y ago

In sweeping change, Biden administration to ban medical debt from credit reports | ABC News

abcnews.go.com /Politics/sweeping-change-biden-administration-ban-medical-debt-credit/story

23 comments

I wonder what piece of shit group will be the first to sue to block this.
- Angry students? Lol.
  Really though, odds are high the suit will come from some group that got PPP loans forgiven.
  
  As I tell my kids: if you want to make things fair by making something better for someone else, that’s great. If you want to make things fair by making something worse for someone else, you’re doing it wrong.
  I would hope that angry students would not sue to prevent something that would help so many people in the name of “fairness”.
  Besides, if anything, actions like this just establish more precedent that encourages further action against unfair debt.
  
  Literally my first thought. What about students? We are saddled with debt at the start of our adult lives after being told by our parents and grandparents and teacher and school counselors that we HAVE to go to college or we end up broke and on the street or 'flipping burgers'. This toxic push has ironically made people broke and end up on the street, and flipping burgers is actually something people can do to get by due to minimum wage increases.
  Colleges and private lending firms can get fucked on this in my opinion. My college experience was basically feeling like a money piñata. Figuratively every step in any direction was designed to bleed the student dry, ON TOP OF their tuition. I mean books, parking which is not even guaranteed, fancy gyms and rec centers (you all must pay, even if not using) to draw in or attract new ~~suckers~~ students for the same shill.
  I'm not saying students don't benefit or learn anything. However the cost and the massive debt students take on when not even fully aware of what consequences this will have on their future is staggering. If life lessons have a number, a good kick in the cojones would be the cost of going to college because literally everyone around you including family peer pressured you into it, and then later struggling to find work in normal jobs.
  Trickle that down to being unable to then afford a home or barely housing, food, energy. But you know, avocado fucking toast and everything is our fault amiright?
  But hey, back to not being able to call bankruptcy on student debt or have that affecting adults and their credit scores.
  This is not a new problem and Biden is the first to actually do something tangible about the debt problem there, but it's still a start in my opinion. Real change needs to happen or the debt reservoir fills back up and colleges squeeze rocks ever harder.
  P.S.: And no, we're not enrolling in underwater basket weaving degrees you right-wing parrot twats.
Woah, that’s actually kind of a big deal. There’s still a shitload more progress to be had, but this is incredibly good news.
I'm all for this but... Why would anyone pay a medical debt anymore? Wouldn't you just sit on it forever? What's the incentive to ever pay?
- National healthcare with one weird trick
- A big chunk of the population doesn't pay anyways. Those who do are the ones with assets which might be seized
  
  In other words, those who can afford it pay. Now those who can't afford it don't get punished.
- This doesn't stop collection activities. It only stops that from showing up on credit reports.
- Medical debt lawsuits?
  That happens now but is generally poor PR, so most hospitals don’t do it. I can see some gross future wherein they point to this and say “without credit extortion, we have no choice but to sue,” and the American populace just accepts this. Hopefully not though. That could well lead to increased scrutiny on the shit ass healthcare system (I nonetheless have low hopes).
  Hospitals are already losing a ton of money by having to refer cases to collection agencies, which already have a relatively low success rate. Perhaps they should see this and push for single payer where they would not need to have entire business departments and collection agency partners creating massive overhead. The system as-is doesn’t work for them either.
sometime next year
The ol classic voting year spin on the bait n switch eh?
Gotta give credit where it’s due - this is a great move by the Biden administration. More like this please!
- Only if he wins in November, and follows through..
  
  Yeah, wouldn’t be nearly as much medical debt if Biden hadn’t preemptively given away the public option. But the Dems seem to only be interested in tiny little baby steps, so if that’s all that’s on offer this is technically a win.
That is literally all of my debt left, so yay!
If hes doing it now, hes had the power to do it for the last 3 years. Holding rights hostage in exchange for power is psychopathic
- It’s how the game is played.
God I bet my Republican coworker is pissed
... is this like the time they lowered obesity rates by changing the definition of obesity??
And additionally this time they "help" people(s financial situation burdened by high levels of debt) by letting them get even more indebted? Isn't the central bank supposed to have a say in this (for purposes of market stability as commercial bank regulator)?
\ Or is financial score something that persists even after all debts are payed? (That's dystopian af)

23 comments