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Medical Bills to Remain on Credit Reports

Federal judge overturns rule that would have helped millions of Americans

Maya Dollarhide and Daniel Bortz,

AARP

En español

Published July 15, 2025

a laptop, stethoscope, money and stack of bills on a green background

Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Shutterstock; Getty Images)

Unpaid medical bills will continue to hurt Americans’ credit scores after a federal judge in Texas struck down a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on July 11, 2025, designed to remove medical debt from credit reports.

The CFPB rule would have aided an estimated 15 million Americans currently carrying upward of $49 billion in medical debt on their credit reports. In addition, the rule would have prohibited medical devices, such as wheelchairs, from being used as collateral on loans and allowed for some medical information to be shielded from loan applications.

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U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan struck down the rule in its entirety, saying the CFPB had exceeded its authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The decision marks a win for the credit-reporting industry groups that had opposed the rule since the CFPB proposed it in June 2023.

Americans with medical debt on their credit reports were expected to see their credit scores increase by an average of 20 points, the CFPB said when it finalized the rule in January.

How medical debt hurts older Americans’ credit scores

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Unlike other types of borrowing, medical debt is often the result of an unexpected illness or accident, making it “outside the control of the consumer,” former AARP legislative counsel and legislative policy director David Certner wrote in a letter in support of the rule shortly after the CFPB proposed it.

Older adults on Medicare are not immune from unpaid medical bills, since coverage gaps can lead to surprise out-of-pocket costs. More than one-quarter of U.S. adults ages 40 to 64 are currently in medical debt, with most owing between $1,000 and $1,999 (22 percent) or $2,000 and $4,999 (23 percent), a 2024 AARP survey found.

Among adults 65 and older who report being behind on medical bills, the average balance is an estimated $13,800, according to a 2023 CFPB analysis of Census Bureau data.

Moreover, according to a survey published in JAMA Health Forum in August 2024, about 1 in 5 people said they received a medical bill over the past year that they disagreed with or couldn’t afford. Older adults are especially vulnerable to billing errors. With more chronic conditions and more frequent and complex medical care, they face a greater chance of incorrect charges.

Consumers can submit credit reporting complaints by visiting the CFPB’s website or calling 855-411-CFPB.

Maya Dollarhide is a freelance writer whose work has been published by MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Investopedia and other national publications.

Daniel Bortz is a personal finance editor at AARP. His work has been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports, Entrepreneur, Kiplinger, Newsweek, Money and other national publications.