The CFPB’s rule demonstrates a common problem with healthcare reform. Policymakers treat things differently when illness and medicine are involved—even if it means forgetting the basic laws of economics. If lawmakers really want to make it easier for people to afford health care, they need to bring down its price by increasing supply through regulatory reform—not by giving people permission not to pay for it.
The Biden administration issued a flurry of directives in its final days. One move in particular warrants closer inspection.
On January 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule barring medical debt from appearing on credit reports. According to the agency, the rule will wipe $49 billion in medical bills from 15 million Americans’ credit reports.
That sounds significant. But medical debt is not the crisis that the Biden administration and others have made it out to be. And the CFPB’s plan to wipe medical debt could actually hurt the very people it is meant to help.
From a purely economic perspective, the rule makes little sense.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
The CFPB’s New Medical Debt Rule Will Do More Harm Than Good
Sally C. Pipes
The CFPB’s rule demonstrates a common problem with healthcare reform. Policymakers treat things differently when illness and medicine are involved—even if it means forgetting the basic laws of economics. If lawmakers really want to make it easier for people to afford health care, they need to bring down its price by increasing supply through regulatory reform—not by giving people permission not to pay for it.
The Biden administration issued a flurry of directives in its final days. One move in particular warrants closer inspection.
On January 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule barring medical debt from appearing on credit reports. According to the agency, the rule will wipe $49 billion in medical bills from 15 million Americans’ credit reports.
That sounds significant. But medical debt is not the crisis that the Biden administration and others have made it out to be. And the CFPB’s plan to wipe medical debt could actually hurt the very people it is meant to help.
From a purely economic perspective, the rule makes little sense.
Read the op-ed here:
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.