Medical Debt
Medical debt is the single most common thing people end up in collections over — and it has some of the strongest, most overlooked protections. Most of it comes down to one question: what does your insurance paperwork actually say happened?
Pattern 1 — Insurance already paid, but the account was never closed
Sometimes a bill gets sent to collections even though insurance already covered it — a billing error, not a real debt.
Evidence to gather: your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) showing the insurer's payment, an itemized bill from the provider, and the payment date.
Collecting an amount already paid — in full or in part, by insurance or a government payor — violates the FDCPA's prohibition on false representations and unfair collection practices.
Pattern 2 — Insurance denied for late filing (Texas)
This is the one almost nobody knows about. If a Texas provider bills your insurer too late, they can lose the right to collect from you entirely — even though you still technically have an unpaid balance.
A Texas health care provider must bill the patient — or bill the insurer directly, if that's how they're billing — no later than the first day of the 11th month after the date services were provided (unless an earlier deadline is set by contract).
A provider who misses that deadline may not recover from the patient any amount the patient would have had covered by insurance had the provider billed on time — and this bar extends to family members who'd otherwise be responsible for the debt.
- Ask the provider or collector for the date of service and the date the claim was actually filed with your insurer.
- If the gap is more than 11 months (or your insurer's contractual deadline, if shorter), cite §§146.002–146.003 in a written dispute demanding the account be closed.
- See the Texas page for how this fits with Texas's other debt collection protections.
What credit reporting protections currently exist
The three nationwide credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) have, since 2022–2023, voluntarily stopped reporting paid medical debt, medical debt under one year old, and medical debt under $500. This is an industry practice they've chosen to follow, not a legal requirement — but it's currently what's protecting most people, since no federal law requires it.
The CFPB tried to make this a legal requirement, not just a voluntary practice — a rule that would have removed nearly all medical debt from credit reports. A federal court struck that rule down on July 11, 2025, ruling the CFPB didn't have the authority to make that change. So today, the bureaus' voluntary practice above is the actual protection — there's no federal law backing it up.
Some states have passed their own laws banning medical-debt credit reporting. Whether those state laws still hold up after the federal ruling above is a separate, unresolved legal question — this site doesn't have a confirmed answer either way. If that could apply to you, check your own state's current law directly.