Credit
How to get medical debt off your credit report in 2026
The CFPB rule was vacated in 2025. Here is what actually removes medical collections from your report now, step by step.
Paid medical collections and medical debts under $500 are already off most credit reports. For everything else, dispute inaccuracies with the bureau in writing, then use a pay-for-delete agreement in writing for the rest. Never pay first.
The 2025 rule was vacated. The policies stayed.
In January 2025 the CFPB finalized a rule banning medical debt from most credit reports and banning its use in underwriting. A federal court vacated that rule in July 2025, so the rule is gone - but the bureaus' own voluntary policies from 2022 and 2023 remain in effect.
What is already excluded today
| Type of medical collection | Status on credit reports |
|---|---|
| Paid medical collections | Removed (voluntary, since 2022) |
| Unpaid medical collections under $500 | Removed (since spring 2023) |
| Medical collection less than 1 year old | Not reported (since 2022) |
| Unpaid medical collections over $500, older than 1 year | May appear |
The practical effect: most medical collections under $500 never show up, and paid ones disappear. The debts still being reported are the older, larger, unpaid ones - which is exactly the group where billing errors and disputed amounts are most common.
$220 billion in medical debt is owed by Americans; about 14 million adults owe more than $1,000 (KFF, Feb 2024).
How to dispute a medical collection on your report
Pull your reports from all three bureaus (annualcreditreport.com is the official free source). For each medical collection: (1) confirm it is yours, (2) check the amount and dates against the EOB and the itemized bill, (3) dispute in writing with evidence, (4) ask the provider's billing office to pull the account and tell the bureau it was an error.
The pay-for-delete, in writing
If the debt is real, the highest-value move is a written settlement that includes deletion: pay a negotiated amount, and the collector removes the tradeline. The bureaus already drop paid medical collections, so the leverage is real. Get the deletion in the same signed document as the payment terms, and pay only after it is signed.
Do not do the thing most people do
The most common mistake is paying the full amount immediately to make it 'go away' - then discovering the tradeline stays (unpaid medical debt under $500 excepted). The second most common mistake is calling and negotiating a verbal deal. Verbal deals do not reach the bureaus. Everything that removes a tradeline is written.
Does paying off medical debt help your credit score?
Paid medical collections are removed from credit reports by bureau policy, so paying can help by removing the tradeline entirely - but only once the deletion is confirmed. It is the deletion, not the payment, that moves the score, so confirm it in writing.
How long does medical debt stay on your credit report?
Most negative information, including medical collections, can stay for up to 7 years. Paid medical collections are removed under the bureaus' voluntary policy, and medical debts under $500 are removed regardless of payment status.
Sources: CFPB final rule, Regulation V (issued Jan 7, 2025) · CRS, An Overview of Medical Debt (Congressional Research Service) · KFF, The Burden of Medical Debt (Feb 2024) · CRS, An Overview of Medical Debt (Congressional Research Service) · Urban Institute, More than One-Quarter of US Adults Had Medical Debt (Dec 2025) · FightMed case study: the honest scoreboard (Oct 2026)