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Do Medical Bills Affect Your Credit?

When medical bills can and can't hurt your credit score: the three credit bureaus' paid, one-year and $500 rules, what happened to the CFPB's medical debt rule, and how to dispute an error.

Updated November 4, 2026. Free, no sign-up; everything runs in your browser and nothing you type is stored.

Will this medical bill show on my credit report?

Amount of the medical bill ($)Has it gone to a collection agency?Is it paid?Months since it went to collections

Credit report result

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Do medical bills affect your credit? The 3 bureau rules

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion changed how they report medical debt in 2022 and 2023 (CFPB):

Paid medical collections are removed from credit reports.
Unpaid medical collections can't appear for one year, giving you time to sort out insurance or set up payments. (Before this, they could show after 60 to 120 days.)
Medical collections under $500 aren't reported (since April 11, 2023).

So medical bills affect your credit only when they're unpaid, $500 or more, in collections and over a year old. A bill you're paying the hospital directly doesn't show as a collection.

What happened to the CFPB medical debt rule?

In 2025 the CFPB issued a rule to remove medical debt from credit reports used by lenders, but in July 2025 a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas vacated it, finding the agency exceeded its authority (CBS News). The bureaus' own rules above were voluntary and remain in place (as of mid-2026). Some states have their own limits on medical debt reporting.

If a medical bill shows up on your credit report

Get your free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com.
If a paid medical collection, one under $500 or one less than a year old appears, dispute it with the credit bureau.
Ask the provider for an itemized bill and check your insurance explanation of benefits; ask about financial assistance (charity care) at nonprofit hospitals.
If a dispute isn't fixed, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB.

Common questions

Do medical bills affect your credit?

Only unpaid medical collections of $500 or more that are over a year old; paid ones and smaller ones are removed.

How long before medical debt goes on your credit report?

One year after it goes to collections, under the bureaus' rules.

Does paying a medical collection remove it?

Yes. Paid medical collection debt is removed from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reports.

Was medical debt banned from credit reports?

A 2025 CFPB rule would have removed most of it, but a federal court vacated it in July 2025; the bureaus' voluntary rules still apply.

Sources

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General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check important numbers with the official source before acting on them.