New federal rule will remove medical debt from credit reports [View all]

Source: Good Morning America

In a major change that could affect millions of Americans' credit scores, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday finalized a rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports.

The rule would erase an estimated $49 billion in unpaid medical bills from the credit reports of roughly 15 million Americans, the CFPB said.

That could help boost those borrowers' credit scores by an average of 20 points, helping them qualify for mortgages and other loans.

"No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement touting the new rule.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-rule-remove-medical-debt-100732080.html