The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Nov. 16 released its annual report regarding its activities taken in 2023 to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, spotlighting, among other topics, the collection of medical debt.
Posts published by “Shannon P. Miller”
Shannon P. Miller is a principal attorney at Maurice Wutscher LLP, where he focuses his practice on various aspects of financial services law with an emphasis on consumer financial services litigation. He has successfully represented healthcare and financial institutions and law firms across the country for claims filed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and various state consumer protection statutes. For more information, see https://mauricewutscher.com/attorneys/shannon-p-miller/
Continuing on its mission to curb abusive collection efforts related to medical debt which began to take life in 2022, the CFPB on Sept. 21 announced its initiation of a rulemaking process to remove medical bills from credit reports entirely.
Last year saw an influx of federal and state regulation aimed at what information must be conveyed to consumers in anticipation of the provision of medical services as well as restrictions on the collection of medical debt. Expect more activity in 2023.
Legislation introduced in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate would prohibit “health care providers” from furnishing information concerning medical debt to credit reporting agencies.
Continuing with the heavy trend 2022 has seen of both federal and state regulator focus on medical debt coming on the heels of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate is taking aim at the collection of medical debt.
Medical debt continues to dominate the headlines in 2022 and continues to be an area of significant focus for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Medical debt continues to capture the attention of state and federal government, with lawmakers and regulators continuing to target how medical debt is collected and how it is reflected on a consumer credit report.
In an update to an article we published earlier this week regarding the three major credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion issuing a joint statement last week regarding how medical debt will be treated and reported on consumer credit reports, those agencies provided further clarification to data furnishers on March 22.
In a year that is still quite young, medical debt continues to find its way into the headlines of the receivables management industry. Continuing the trend, this past Friday, March 18, saw the three major credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion issue a joint statement regarding how medical debt will be treated and reported on consumer credit reports.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down several noteworthy decisions impacting consumer credit law in 2021 concerning the disclosure of consumer account information, communications with consumers, itemization of debt, and whether a debtor’s spouse is liable for certain debts.
The State of Florida, like many states, maintains a robust workers’ compensation statute geared toward insulating employees injured on the job from associated medical services. Now, lawsuits continue to be filed against debt collectors, hospitals and other medical providers alleging that under a novel interpretation of Florida’s workers’ compensation law, it is unlawful to attempt to collect medical debt arising from work-related injuries directly from consumers.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio issued its highly anticipated ruling on July 25 in a CFPB enforcement action against an Ohio debt collection law firm, concluding that the firm’s attorneys were “meaningfully involved” in the collections process and entering judgment in favor of the law firm. The decision followed an advisory jury’s verdict, which found the law firm’s pre-suit collection letters contained “false, deceptive, or misleading representations or means in connection with the collection of a debt” while rejecting a claim that the firm’s attorneys were not meaningfully involved in the debt collection process in…