Medical Debt on Your Credit Report in 2026: What Changed — and What Still Protects You

There is no federal ban on medical debt in credit reports: the CFPB rule that would have removed it was vacated by a federal court in Texas in July 2025. What still stands are the three credit bureaus' own 2022–2023 policies (paid medical debt comes off, medical debt under $500 is not reported, unpaid medical debt cannot appear until it is a year delinquent) and, as of early 2026, laws in at least fifteen states that restrict or prohibit medical debt on credit reports, though those state laws are now being challenged in court. You can dispute an entry that breaks any of these rules in writing with the bureau, which must investigate under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

You fought the bill. Maybe you're still fighting it. And in the middle of all that, someone tells you the debt landed on your credit report — the one number that follows you into every apartment application, car loan, and mortgage.

If you've heard that "the government banned medical debt from credit reports," here's the uncomfortable truth: that rule is gone. But here's what the headlines skip: a whole second line of defense is still standing. Let's walk through what actually changed, exhibit by exhibit.

Exhibit A: The Federal Rule — Vacated

In January 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule that would have removed medical debt from the credit reports lenders see. It never got the chance to protect anyone. In July 2025, a federal court in Texas vacated the rule in its entirety — after the CFPB itself, under new leadership, asked the court to throw out its own rule (Cornerstone Credit Union League v. CFPB, E.D. Tex. 2025).

So no, there is no federal ban on medical debt in credit reports. Anyone who tells you otherwise is working from old news.

Exhibit B: The Credit Bureaus' Own Rules — Still in Effect

Before any of this, the three big credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — voluntarily agreed in 2022–2023 to three changes that remain in place:

Paid medical debt must come off your report — no lingering "was in collections" scar.

Medical debt under $500 doesn't get reported at all, paid or not.

Unpaid medical debt can't appear until it's at least a year delinquent.

These aren't laws. They're policies. But they're policies you can hold the bureaus to — and according to the National Consumer Law Center (2025), about 15 million Americans still have medical debt on their reports, which means plenty of entries that may violate these rules are sitting there right now. Check yours.

Exhibit C: Your State May Ban It Outright

While Washington reversed course, the states moved. As of early 2026, at least fifteen states restrict or prohibit medical debt on credit reports (counts differ between NCLC, KFF and the Commonwealth Fund depending on how narrow laws are classified) — including California, New York, Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, and Delaware. Nine of those laws took effect in 2025 or on January 1, 2026.

One complication you should know about: these state laws are under legal attack, and the first ruling has gone against them. In October 2025, the CFPB issued interpretive guidance claiming federal law overrides them. Then on August 10, 2026, in CDIA v. Paxton, a federal judge in Texas held that the Fair Credit Reporting Act preempts a Texas statute (SB 1037, a narrow 2019 surprise-billing law, not one of the broad state bans) — reasoning that Congress meant to block state laws "that would restrict the inclusion of adverse items of information in consumer reports" — and expressly disagreed with the First Circuit, which had upheld Maine's law in CDIA v. Frey (2022). So the answer now depends on where you live and which court's reading controls there: the Texas ruling binds Texas, the First Circuit's binds Maine and its neighbours, and the rest is unsettled until an appeals court or the Supreme Court resolves the split. Consumer law groups like the National Consumer Law Center continue to argue the state laws stand. Verified September 2, 2026.

What You Can Do This Week

Pull all three reports — free. You're entitled to a free report from each bureau every week at AnnualCreditReport.com. Use that site, not the bureaus' own signup pages.

Scan for violations. A paid medical debt still showing? A balance under $500? A debt reported before it was a year delinquent? Each one is something you can dispute with the bureau in writing; under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the bureau must investigate, generally within 30 days.

Check your state. If you live in one of the states above, medical debt may not belong on your report at all — cite your state statute in the dispute, alongside your federal grounds.

Dispute in writing. Paper creates a record. Records win fights.

The Bottom Line

The federal government walked away from this fight. That doesn't mean you have to. The bureau policies are still binding, the state laws are still standing, and the FCRA dispute process has been there all along.

What BillFighter does, and what it doesn't. BillFighter fights the bill. It reads your medical bill or collection notice, points out the errors, and prepares the Debt Validation Letter and the Request Itemized Bill that you send by certified mail. That's a different fight from the one described above. We don't dispute credit reports and we are not a credit repair service — the FCRA disputes on this page are ones you file yourself, free, directly with the bureaus. We're not a law firm and this isn't legal advice.

The rights are real, and they're yours.

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