Senator Warnock leads the Democratic caucus in demanding the Trump administration explain its rollback of the medical debt rule finalized in January 2025
In the final days of the Biden Administration, Senator Warnock successfully pressed the CFPB to ban credit lenders from including medical bills in credit reports and prohibit lenders from using medical information in lending decisions
In Georgia, 27% of rural citizens have medical collections on their credit report, ten percentage points higher than the national average due in part to the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid
Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and 26 other senators pushed the Trump administration for answers regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) decision to vacate the medical debt rule finalized in January 2025. The letter demands CFPB share any data the agency relied on in deciding to petition a court to vacate the rule and any communications it had with entities during the process that would profit from its decision.
“On April 30, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a court to vacate the agency’s recently released rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports. We write to request the information you relied on in making that determination, including any communications with collection agencies that stand to profit from it,” the senators said.
“Medical debt collections information is often inaccurate, and studies show that it is not useful in determining a consumer’s ability to repay other debts…Almost half of all medical bills contain at least one error, and almost half of nonprofit hospitals have routinely and mistakenly billed patients who were eligible for free or discounted care,” they continued.
At the conclusion of the letter, the senators emphasize the need for transparency into the agency’s decision-making process.
“On April 30, the CFPB filed a joint motion with the industry groups that oppose the rule, petitioning the court to vacate it – lining the pockets of corporations off the backs of American consumers. Given the substantial evidence that the CFPB’s rule was well-considered and would help consumers without reducing the accuracy of their credit scores, we write to request that the CFPB make public all information relied on by the agency in its decision to drop the rule, including any communications with the debt collection industry,” the senators closed.
Senator Warnock continues to stand up in defense of Georgia consumers by holding the CFPB under President Trump accountable. In February, Senator Warnock questioned Trump administration CFPB nominees at a Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing. During the hearing, Senator Warnock asked the nominees if they agreed with President Trump on the CFPB being, ‘A very important thing to get rid of’ and if the agency would address the 266,560 outstanding complaints from Georgians in a timely manner. In May, President Trump withdrew his nominee for the CFPB. OMB Director Russell Vought serves as acting director of the agency.
In Georgia, roughly 640,000 people don’t have access to affordable health care because state leaders have refused to expand Medicaid. 27% of rural citizens have medical collections on their credit report – ten percentage points higher than the national average. Senator Warnock has a long track record of working to address the harmful consequences of medical debt on working families including calling on the CFPB to establish an ombudsman position for consumer medical debt and urging the CFPB to protect Americans from predatory medical debt collection practices.
In addition to Senators Warnock, Warren, Schumer, and Merkley the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angus King (I-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).
