来源：《华盛顿邮报》
原文刊登日期：2022年4月3日
Credit scores play an outsize role in American life. Without a decent credit score, it’s difficult to get a loan for a home, car or business, or even get a job. That’s why it’s welcome news that starting July 1, the nation’s three large credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — will stop including the vast majority of medical debt on people’s credit reports.
信用评分在美国人的生活中扮演着极其重要的角色。如果没有良好的信用评分，就很难获得贷款买房、买车或做生意，甚至很难找到工作。这就是为什么从7月1日开始，美国三大信用报告机构——艾可飞、益百利和环联——将停止在人们的信用报告中包含绝大多数医疗债务，是一个受欢迎的消息。
This is no small change. Medical debt is the most common form of debt in collection listed on people’s credit reports — by far. There have been horror stories in recent years of credit scores nosediving because of unpaid medical bills that went to a collection agency. Some of this is the result of expensive treatments for cancer, diabetes and other chronic illnesses that subpar insurance does not fully cover. But more than 60 percent of medical debts are for amounts less than $500. When those small amounts go into collection, they can stay on a person’s credit report for up to seven years, even after the debt is paid.
这不是一个小变化。到目前为止，医疗债务是人们信用报告中列出的最常见的催收债务形式。近年来，由于未付的医药费账单被送到催收公司，导致信用评分急剧下降的恐怖事件屡屡发生。部分原因是癌症、糖尿病和其他慢性疾病的昂贵治疗，低于标准的保险并没有完全为这些疾病报销。但是超过60%的医疗债务低于500美元。当这些小额款项进入催收程序时，它们可以在个人的信用报告上保留长达七年的时间，甚至在债务偿还之后也是如此。
Starting in July, medical debt will be removed from credit reports once it is paid. New debts won’t be listed until they have been at a collection agency for a year, a big increase from the current practice of six months. These changes are expected to eliminate about 70 percent of medical debt on credit reports. In many cases, it isn’t even the patient’s fault that this debt exists. The real fault is often insurers that are slow to pay their share of the bill, consumer rights advocates say. In early 2023, credit agencies say they will also stop including medical debts of less than $500 on reports.
从7月开始，医疗债务一旦偿还，将从信用报告中删除。新的债务只有在催收公司催收一年之后才会被列入债务清单，而目前的做法是六个月。些变化预计将消除信用报告中约70%的医疗债务。在很多情况下，这种债务的存在并不是病人的错。消费者权益倡导人士说，真正的问题往往在于保险公司支付自己那部分账单的速度太慢。到2023年初，征信机构表示，他们还将停止在报告中包括500美元以下的医疗债务。
As welcome as this news is, the devil is in the details. The industry is voluntarily changing its ways. There is nothing to ensure these changes remain in place if, for example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau returns to Republican leadership in the coming years.
尽管这个消息很受欢迎，但细节决定成败。该行业正在主动改弦易辙。例如，如果消费者金融保护局在未来几年重归共和党领导，就无法确保这些变化继续存在。
“The credit agencies are doing this because they see the current Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is assertive and strong under Director Rohit Chopra,” said a National Consumer Law Center attorney. The CFPB put out a savage report on the “medical debt burden” in February. It warned it would crack down on credit agencies, as well as hospitals and medical practices that are abusing the system.
“征信机构之所以这么做，是因为他们看到现在的消费者金融保护局在局长罗希特·乔普拉的领导下，行事自信而有力，”美国消费者法律中心的一名律师说。消费者金融保护局在2月份发布了一份关于“医疗债务负担”的措辞严厉的报告。它警告称，将打击征信机构，以及滥用征信系统的医院和医疗机构。
Congress should pass a law codifying these important changes. Legislation should also ban credit reports from showing medical debt accrued for any medically necessary procedures, such as cancer treatments.
国会应该通过一项法律，将这些重要的变化编成法典。法律还应禁止信用报告显示任何医疗必要手术（如癌症治疗）产生的医疗债务。
Medical debt comes at an especially vulnerable time for people recovering from serious illness. A credit score reduction only makes recovery harder.
对于重病康复者来说，医疗债务出现在一个特别脆弱的时期。信用评分的降低只会让康复更加困难。