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Recent polling reveals nearly half of Maine households carry some amount of medical debt, the majority of which stems from hospital bills. Ende noted it is affecting peoples’ credit scores and their ability to find housing, as lower scores can lead to mortgage or rental application denials.
“As we all know, housing is such a big issue in Maine,” Ende observed. “Anything we can do to reduce barriers to people being able to find housing, we should be doing.”
By Kathryn Carley, Producer - Public News Service
Maine lawmakers are considering legislation to remove medical debt from most consumer credit reports while a federal rule remains in limbo.
The rule was finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and slated to go into effect last month but the Trump administration has placed it on hold.
Kate Ende, policy director at Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Healthcare, said the move is making it harder for people to get loans, refinance or even find employment.
"Since there is uncertainty at the federal level, I think it’s really important that Maine step up at the state level to ensure that Mainers are protected," Ende urged.
Opponents of the bill said it weakens credit reporting accuracy and could incentivize people not to pay their debt but Ende pointed out medical billing is often inaccurate, making medical debt a poor indicator of one’s creditworthiness.
Recent polling reveals nearly half of Maine households carry some amount of medical debt, the majority of which stems from hospital bills. Ende noted it is affecting peoples’ credit scores and their ability to find housing, as lower scores can lead to mortgage or rental application denials.
"As we all know, housing is such a big issue in Maine," Ende observed. "Anything we can do to reduce barriers to people being able to find housing, we should be doing."
More than 40% of people with medical debt tied to a hospital stay said their debt was reported to a credit rating agency. Maine lawmakers passed legislation last year, prohibiting collection agencies from charging interest or fees on medical debt and preventing collection agencies from suing patients with low incomes for payment.
Nearly half of Maine families* have taken on medical debt in the last two years, and more than half of those with medical debt have seen their credit scores drop. Medical debt is also a poor predictor** of whether a person will pay other bills.
