CFPB to Host Hearing on Medical Billing and Collections

The CFPB announced that on July 11, 2023 at 10 a.m. EST it will host a hearing on medical billing and collections, with a focus on medical payment products, such as medical credit cards and installment loans.  In addition to Director Chopra, the hearing will include agency officials from the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The CFPB’s announcement states that at the hearing, “[m]embers of the public will have a chance to hear from the CFPB, partner agencies, and organizations on high-cost specialty financial products that are pushed on patients as a way to pay for medical care.”

In May 2023, the CFPB published a report on medical payment products that claimed such products are typically more expensive for patients than other forms of payment, including conventional credit cards.  The report also claimed that the deferred interest plans frequently offered as a feature of such products can prove especially expensive and unaffordable for patients.