Credit bureaus under fire for medical debt reporting
A few days ago, an article in the Motley Fool detailed a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that shows how catastrophic medical debt is hurting Americans’ credit scores. People are being forced into bankruptcy over outrageously high medical bills, even when they have “adequate” insurance. Double billing and clerical errors are rampant; and consumers are trapped in a tangled web of confusion. In some cases, collection agencies are using unscrupulous methods to try and collect on the outstanding balance as well. The study also showed that even people who otherwise pay all of their bills on time have struggled with the high cost of healthcare.
The credit bureaus are not, by any means, perfect. They make plenty of mistakes, as our clients can attest to. But the problem of medical debt goes beyond mere reporting problems, and is especially insidious. Bills can easily soar into six figure territory, and sometimes hit the million dollar mark within a matter of months. Many of us have heard about healthcare horror stories, and some may even have their own. Something is fundamentally flawed when simply getting sick with a serious illness or disease can wreck a responsible adult’s financial future. The CFPB does have some recommendations for the credit bureaus, and they should be reviewed thoroughly.
The article gives tips on how to best avoid a financial nightmare and is well worth a read. Let us know what you think; have you run into many customers needing their credit repaired solely due to medical bills? Is it relatively common or an anomaly?
It’s been busy time here at CMS, and we hope that business is going well for all of you! As always, we are here to help if you have and questions about accepting payments for credit repair services, just let us know!
