119 S4622 IS: Protecting Americans from Treatment-related Credit Harm Act U.S. Senate 2026-05-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II119th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 4622IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESMay 21, 2026Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban AffairsA BILLTo amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the inclusion of medical debt on a consumer report, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protecting Americans from Treatment-related Credit Harm Act or the PATCH Act.

2.

Amendments to Fair Credit Reporting Act

(a)

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:(bb)

Medical debt

The term medical debt means a debt arising from the receipt of medical services, products, or devices..(b)

Exclusion for medical debt

(1)

In general

Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:(6)(A)Any adverse information related to a medical debt, including a medical debt that was placed for collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to any similar action.(B)Nothing in subparagraph (A) may be construed to prevent a consumer reporting agency from collecting the information described in that subparagraph..(2)

Technical and conforming amendments

Section 604(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)) is amended—(A)in paragraph (1)—(i)in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking (other than medical contact information treated in the manner required under section 605(a)(6));(ii)in subparagraph (A), by adding or at the end;(iii)in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ; or and inserting a period; and(iv)by striking subparagraph (C); and(B)in paragraph (2), by striking (other than medical information treated in the manner required under section 605(a)(6)).

3.

Modification of regulations relating to prohibitions on use of medical debt information

(a)

Definitions

In this section, the terms credit and creditor have the meanings given those terms in section 702 of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691a).(b)

Requirement

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall amend section 1022.30 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, to ensure that creditors are prohibited from obtaining or using information relating to the medical debt of a consumer in determining whether or not to extend credit to that consumer.