The overhaul will erase about 70% of medical debt from consumers credit histories.

Most medical debt is the result of a one-time or short-term expense, rather than ongoing spending habits.

Yourpayment historyis the most important credit score factor, accounting for 35% of your score.

An illustration shows a businessman smashes a ball and chain representing debt with his foot

They only notify the bureaus ofmedical debtonce theyve sent your account to collections.

One single collections account can cause your score to drop by 100 points or more.

The higher your score, the bigger the impact.

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Even under the current rules, medical debt is treated differently from other debt in collections.

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Collections agencies cant put delinquent medical debt on your credit reports for 180 days.

If your insurer later pays the bill, the negative information must be removed from your credit report.

If you have unpaid medical bills, you still owe them.

These include:

What to avoid: charging medical bills to a credit card.

Youll pay more in interest than you would with a payment plan unless you have a zero-interest period.

But once you charge your medical debt to a credit card, that debt becomes credit debt.

She writes the Dear Penny personal finance advice column.

Send your tricky money questions to[email protected]or chat with her inThe Penny Hoarder Community.

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…