Republicans may be bound and determined to saddle more Americans with medical expenses. starting September 15, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion will wait 180 days before applying medical debt to credit reports. Thus, your personal credit won’t be penalized as quickly just because of hospital and insurer red tape (what? bureaucracy, from private operators in the free market? perish the thought!).
We have state attorneys general to thank for this break:
The changes grew out of two efforts by states to aid consumers: a 2015 settlement negotiated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the three credit reporting agencies and an agreement shortly afterward between the agencies and 31 state attorneys general. The changes will be instituted nationwide [Michelle Andrews, “Your Credit Score Soon Will Get a Buffer from Medical-Debt Wrecks,” Kaiser Health Network, 2017.07.11].
That 31-state agreement appears not to have included South Dakota. A.G. Marty Jackley’s failure to participate in this pro-consumer push won’t keep us from enjoying the six-month grace period to wrestle payments from our insurers, but we do miss out on a share of the six-million-dollar settlement that the participating states secured.