[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2683 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2683
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclusion in
consumer credit reports and to establish requirements for debt
collectors with respect to medical debt information of veterans due to
inappropriate or delayed billing payments or reimbursements from the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 25, 2017
Mr. Delaney (for himself, Mr. Hultgren, Ms. Sinema, Mrs. Walorski, Mr.
Rouzer, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Young of Alaska, Ms.
Stefanik, Mr. Jones, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Rush, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr.
Himes, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mrs. Dingell, Mr.
Cartwright, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Hastings) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclusion in
consumer credit reports and to establish requirements for debt
collectors with respect to medical debt information of veterans due to
inappropriate or delayed billing payments or reimbursements from the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Veterans Credit Act of
2017''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to rectify problematic reporting of medical debt
included in a consumer report of a veteran due to inappropriate
or delayed payment for hospital care or medical services
provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs facility under
the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
(2) to clarify the process of debt collection for such
medical debt.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT.
(a) Veteran's Medical Debt Defined.--Section 603 of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(z) Veteran.--The term `veteran' has the meaning given the term
in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
``(aa) Veteran's Medical Debt.--The term `veteran's medical debt'--
``(1) means a debt of a veteran arising from health care
provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs facility under
the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
``(2) includes medical debt that the Department of Veterans
Affairs has wrongfully charged a veteran.''.
(b) Exclusion for Veteran's Medical Debt.--Section 605(a) of the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(7) Any information related to a veteran's medical debt
if the date on which the hospital care or medical services was
rendered relating to the debt antedates the report by less than
1 year.
``(8) Any information related to a fully paid or settled
veteran's medical debt that had been characterized as
delinquent, charged off, or in collection.''.
(c) Removal of Veteran's Medical Debt From Consumer Report.--
Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting ``and except as
provided in subsection (g)'' after ``subsection (f)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Dispute Process for Veteran's Medical Debt.--
``(1) In general.--With respect to a veteran's medical debt
of a consumer, the consumer may submit a notice along with
proof of liability of the Department of Veterans Affairs for
payment of that debt or documentation that the Department of
Veterans Affairs is in the process of making payment for
authorized medical services rendered to a consumer reporting
agency or a reseller to dispute the inclusion of that debt on a
consumer report of the consumer.
``(2) Notification to veteran.--The Department of Veterans
Affairs shall submit to a veteran a notice that the Department
of Veterans Affairs has assumed liability for part or all of a
veteran's medical debt.
``(3) Deletion of information from file.--If a notice and
proof of liability or documentation is received under paragraph
(1), the consumer reporting agency shall delete all information
relating to the veteran's medical debt from the file of the
consumer and notify the furnisher and the consumer of that
deletion.''.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that
is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>