Biden administration to ban medical debt on credit reports, while credit card debt continues to rise

The Biden administration is set to implement a rule that will prohibit medical debt from being included in credit reports and prevent lenders from using certain medical information in loan decisions. This move will eliminate an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of approximately 15 million individuals. Meanwhile, credit card debt has decreased by $13.7 billion, the largest decline since the start of the pandemic, while non-revolving credit has increased by $6.2 billion. A Federal Reserve study shows that credit card transactions accounted for 32% of all U.S. consumer payments in 2023, up from 24% in 2019, while cash payments have decreased to 16%.