How Does Medical Debt Affect Your Credit Score?

Is Medical Debt Being Removed From Credit Reports?

In 2023, the three major consumer credit reporting agencies—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax—stopped including medical collection accounts under $500 on credit reports. In January 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule that would have removed all medical debt from credit reports used by lenders. The rule was slated to become effective in March 2025, but in February 2025, the Trump administration placed it on hold.

Medical debt on credit reports impacts some 15 million Americans, whose debt totals an estimated $49 billion, according to CFPB research. However, if you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia or Washington, federal government action may not affect you. These 15 states have laws that prohibit the use of medical debt in credit reporting. The state laws typically either:

• Prohibit consumer credit reporting agencies from reporting medical bills,
• Prevent health care providers and collection agencies from reporting medical bills to credit reporting agencies, or
• Prohibit lenders from using medical debt information that appears on credit reports.

Do Medical Bills Hurt Your Credit?

Some types of medical bills can hurt your credit, while others have no impact. Here's a breakdown.

Medical Bills That You Pay on Time

Medical bills that you pay on time won't affect your credit score. In fact, as long as you pay a medical bill within 365 days after the date it becomes delinquent, it won't affect your credit. Medical debt doesn't appear on your credit report until it's sold to a collection agency, which typically doesn't happen until payment is 60 to 120 days past due. In addition, the three main consumer credit bureaus give you a 365-day grace period after the delinquency date to pay the debt before adding the collection account to your credit report.

Unpaid Medical Bills Under $500

Unpaid medical collection accounts under $500 don't show up on your credit report and don't impact your credit score.

Unpaid Medical Bills Over $500

Medical bills over $500 will appear on your credit report and negatively impact your credit score if your account is sold to collections and you don't pay the bill within the 365-day grace period.

Unpaid medical collection accounts over $500 can remain on your credit report for seven years after becoming delinquent; however, they will be removed once you pay the debt.

If your credit report contains medical debt, the silver lining is that newer FICO credit scoring models give less weight to unpaid medical collections than to other types of collections, and newer VantageScore^® credit scoring models don't consider unpaid medical collections at all. That said, you can't know what credit scoring model a lender will use, so it's best to avoid medical bills going to collections.

Tip: Head off problems by reviewing medical bills for accuracy as soon as you receive them. Contact your insurance company and health care provider immediately if you believe you were charged incorrectly, and follow up until the issue is resolved.

Learn more: How to Get Help Paying Medical Bills

Can I Remove Medical Bills From My Credit Report?

Medical bills can be removed from your credit report in certain scenarios. Accurately reported medical collection accounts over $500 will be removed from your credit report once they're paid. If they remain unpaid, they will come off your credit report after seven years from the date the account became delinquent.

If your credit report includes medical collection accounts you believe are inaccurate or fraudulent, you have the right to dispute the items. You can do this by contacting each credit bureau separately and following their dispute procedure.

Learn more: How to Dispute Inaccurate Medical Collections on Your Credit Report

Does Paying Off Medical Collections Improve Credit?

Paying off medical collection accounts could improve your credit, whether you or your health insurance company pays the bill. Once a medical collection account is paid, the payment is reported to credit bureaus. The account will then be removed from your credit report, which can have an immediate positive impact on your credit score.

Learn more: How to Improve Your Credit Score Fast

What to Do if You Can't Pay Your Medical Bills

If your insurance won't cover a medical bill and you don't think you can pay it, exploring the following options right away can help keep your account from going to collections.

• Try to negotiate your medical bills. Health care providers are often willing to work with you if it means they'll receive at least partial payment rather than nothing at all. You might be able to make a large down payment and pay the rest over time, or get a big discount by paying a lower amount in full.
• Ask about a repayment plan. Perhaps your provider will break the bill down into monthly payments so it's more manageable. Keep in mind, though, that there may be fees or interest for doing this, which will add to your costs.
• Hire a medical billing advocate. Medical billing advocates work with health care providers and insurance companies to help resolve medical bills for patients. The service isn't free, but can save you thousands of dollars, as well as hours of time on the phone with insurers and provider offices.
• Explore financial assistance options. You might qualify for assistance paying medical bills from Medicaid, local or state programs, charities, religious groups or nonprofit organizations.
• Use a personal loan or credit card. These should be a last resort, since you'll incur interest on the amount you borrow or charge. Avoid getting a loan secured by your home or other assets; you could lose them if you default. A credit card with a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) offer on purchases could buy you time to pay off your medical debt without paying interest—but be sure to pay off the debt before the promotional rate expires.

Tip: Using a credit card for medical debt turns it into regular credit card debt, which lacks the 365-day grace period of medical debt and can be reported to credit bureaus if a payment is 30 days late. Don't use a credit card for medical debt unless you're sure you can pay it off.

Learn more: What Is a Medical Credit Card?

Keep Your Credit Score Healthy

Regularly reviewing your credit report will help you spot medical debt that has gone to collections or fraudulent use of your credit. You can get a free copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Even with a collection account on your credit report, there are still ways to improve your credit score. Work toward paying off the account, make your other debt payments on time and keep your credit utilization rate down. Once your medical debt is paid off, make sure the account is removed from your credit report. Going forward, free credit monitoring from Experian is an easy way to keep tabs on the health of your credit score.