Bill
SB 614
SB 614 bans medical debt from credit reports and use in credit decisions; deletes existing medical debt entries by Nov 1, 2025; forbids providers from disclosing debt to CRAs.
Status / sponsor / timeline
- Introduced in the Maryland Senate by Sen. Susan Lee (Sen. Lam in some sources) — bill text dated Jan 24, 2025. Referred to Finance.
- Major operative date in the bill: October 1, 2025. Hospitals that previously reported adverse credit information must instruct consumer reporting agencies to delete those reports by November 1, 2025.
- Fiscal and policy analyses accompanying the bill indicate no direct state/local fiscal impact.
Purpose
- Remove routine medical debts from consumer credit reporting and prevent medical debt from being used as a factor in credit‑worthiness determinations. The stated aim is to protect consumers’ credit records from paid or low‑dollar medical bills and to restrict reporting of medical debt by health providers and their collection contractors.
Key definitions (as used in the bill)
- “Medical debt”: an obligation owed by a consumer for health care services, products, devices, durable medical equipment, prescription drugs, or care provided by a health care facility, practitioner, or ambulance service. Includes unpaid, not‑past‑due, and already‑paid medical bills. Excludes ordinary credit‑card debt unless the card is a health‑only open/closed‑end plan.
Core provisions
- Consumer reporting agencies (CRAs):
- May not include in a consumer report any adverse information that the CRA knows or should know relates to medical debt, nor any collection action to collect medical debt.
- May not maintain in a consumer file any information relating to medical debt or collection actions to collect medical debt.
- The prohibition applies regardless of when the medical debt was incurred.
- The bill (in earlier text) explicitly bars CRAs from including paid medical debts or medical debts under $500 in consumer reports.
- Use of reports:
- Prohibits a person (e.g., lender, insurer, employer) from using medical‑debt information contained in a consumer report to make a creditworthiness determination.
- Health care providers / collection contracts:
- A health care facility, practitioner, or ambulance service may not disclose any portion of a medical debt to a CRA.
- Any contract between such an entity and a collection entity for purchase or collection of medical debt must include a clause prohibiting disclosure of the debt to CRAs; contracts entered on or after the bill’s effective date that lack that clause are void and unenforceable.
- Hospitals:
- Amends hospital debt‑collection provisions to require compliance with the new reporting rules; requires hospitals that previously reported adverse information to instruct the CRA to delete it by a specific date (Nov. 1, 2025, in the analysis).
Who would be affected
- Consumers with medical bills (particularly those with paid, small, or recent medical debts).
- Consumer reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and similar entities that furnish consumer reports).
- Lenders, insurers, employers and other entities that rely on consumer reports for creditworthiness or eligibility decisions.
- Health care providers, hospitals, ambulance services, and debt buyers/collection entities that purchase or collect medical debt.
Potential impacts and considerations
- For consumers: likely protection of credit scores and access to credit from the removal of paid/low‑dollar medical debts and restrictions on reporting.
- For creditors/underwriters: reduced visibility into consumer medical obligations on CRAs; lenders may adjust underwriting practices or use alternate data sources.
- For health care providers and collectors: may reduce leverage from credit reporting; could change collection strategies (more reliance on direct collection, billing practices, financial‑assistance screening).
- Legal/contract effect: makes non‑complying collection contracts unenforceable; enforcement mechanisms and penalties beyond contract invalidation are not detailed in the bill text excerpts provided.
Fiscal impact
- The bill’s fiscal analysis (legislative staff) reports no direct effect on state or local government finances; small minimal impacts for private entities are possible.
Procedural notes
- Readers should verify the bill’s current status and final text (committees, enacted amendments, and final effective dates) on the Maryland General Assembly website or official legislative records.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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