2011Legislation

THE PROBLEM

Medical Collections Destroy

Credit Scores

It has been reported that 40% of consumer’s credit reports are affected by medical collection entries that substantially lower their credit score – quite often the consumer is not even aware these appear on their credit report. As a result, consumers pay higher interest rates on mortgages, automobiles, credit cards, and often insurance premiums on their cars and homes.

In a THE WALL STREET JOURNAL article, it was reported that one consumer was asked to pay $14,000 in points to get the low interest rate she would have qualified for if it had not been for two $11 medical collection entries on her credit report that she didn’t even know about. The WSJ reported these two collections dropped this woman’s credit score from 757 to 680 – a 77 point drop. The article details other similar consumer experiences and quotes several consumer organizations commenting on the problem.

One of those quoted is the director of Access Project, a Boston health advocacy group. He said “Don’t assume that your credit score is pristine, and be vigilant about checking it for these medical bills”.

As a credit repair company, we see credit reports with these entries constantly. A large part of the time, our client does not know they are there. We had one client with several small children who had twenty-six medical collections on her credit report.

And if you are contacted and do pay the amount claimed you owe, the collection is marked “paid” but the collection remains on your credit report and continues to cause lower scores for as long as seven years.

This page contains information on a step you can take to help solve this problem, not only for yourself but also for all of us. To encourage people to take the several minutes it might take to do this we are offering a FREE report on another aspect of credit scoring that likely will be helpful to even more people than are affected by medical collections. So please help all consumers and take advantage of our offer. You may be able to use our report to add significant points to your credit score.

As Our Thank You

Click below for your FREE report

DOWNLOAD REPORT

Please email a link to this page

To people you know and

Ask them to help

Thank You

THE SOLUTION

Legislation to Change

Credit Reporting

On September 29, 2010, the U S House of Representatives voted 336 to 82 to pass the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2010, a bill that would have required medical collections to be deleted from credit reports within 45 days of being paid.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to act so there is no law to prevent this from continuing.

We are asking that you email (or write) your Representative and both state Senators asking that this be reintroduced and enacted into law. With most financial companies profiting from the higher interest resulting from the lower scores caused by these medical collection accounts, we need a strong consumer voice to make this law.

To make this as quick and easy for you as possible, we have listed below the government web sites that identify by state or zip code your legislators. We have also included text you can Cut & Paste to send an email asking them to take action. This should only take a couple of minutes and be as simple as a few mouse clinks. We need a strong citizen response to overcome the professional lobbyists.

To thank you for your support, we have provided a link below to download a report that may well be helpful in adding points to your credit score on another issue. This is totally free – you will not even have to give any contact information to download.

To find your Representative’s Web Site CLINK:

http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html

To find your Senator’s Web Site CLINK:

http://www.senate.gov/

Suggested text for the email to your

Representative AND Senator:

SUBJECT: Medical Debt Relief

Email TEXT:

I am writing to ask that you INTRODUCE or Cosponsor (and CERTAINLY support and vote for) legislation regarding MEDICAL DEBT RELIEF. As you may know, this legislation, (HR 3421) passed the house last session on an overwhelming bipartisan majority vote of 336 YES to 82 NO. Also, in the last session S.3419 died for lack of attention in the Senate. A great number of voters are forced to pay higher interest on home mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and insurance premiums because of the damage medical collections due to credit scores. This legislation is vitally important to all American consumers and deserves more than just your support – it deserves your energy and enthusiasm.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this most critical issue.

☼

CAD Credit