内容摘要：This image released by Lionsgate shows Barry Keoghan as Lee, left, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel in a scene from “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” (Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Barry Keoghan as Lee, left, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel in a scene from “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” (Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate via AP)

The problem disproportionately affects people of color, the CFPB has found: 28% of Black people and 22% of Latino people in the U.S. carry medical debt versus 17% of white people. While the national credit reporting agencies voluntarily agreed to disregard medical debt below $500, many consumers have amounts much higher than this threshold on their reports.The CFPB says its action will give millions of consumers increased access to loans and lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages a year. Americans with outstanding medical bills may see their credit scores rise by an average of 20 points, according to the bureau.

The rule was also drafted to increase privacy protections and to help keep debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying bills they don’t owe. The CFPB has found that consumers frequently receive inaccurate bills or are asked to pay bills that should have been covered by insurance or financial assistance programs.What’s more, lenders will be barred from using information about medical devices, such as prosthetic limbs, to make them serve as collateral for a loan and subject to repossession, according to the CFPB’s announcement.Nonprofits in the healthcare space are pleased.

“This decision is great news for everyday Americans,” said Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of personal finance organization WorkMoney. “Medical debt is not a reflection of being bad with money — any one of us can experience illness or injury. With this new rule, Americans will now be able to focus less on the strain of medical debt and more on getting back on their feet.”Patricia Kelmar, health care campaigns director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said the rule would help “many financially responsible families who have accumulated medical debt from unpredictable health issues, high out-of-pocket costs, insurance claim denials and billing errors.”

, including for individuals and households with insurance, there are ways to get relief.

First, determine whether you qualify for charity care. Federal law requires nonprofit hospitals to lower or write off bills for individuals depending on household income. To determine if you qualify, do an internet search for the hospital or health care provider along with the phrase “charity care” or “financial assistance policy.” The nonprofit organization Dollar For also providesKumaison stands on the pathway leading to her house in a flooded neighborhood in Timbulsloko, Central Java, Indonesia, Saturday, July 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Kumaison stands on the pathway leading to her house in a flooded neighborhood in Timbulsloko, Central Java, Indonesia, Saturday, July 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Kumaison remembers the time she cried when a bad flood washed away the 400,000 Indonesian rupiah (US$27) she had been saving. Other items, like clothes and furniture, could be cleaned and repaired. But the money was gone forever.

Growing up in the village as a young girl, Kumaison says she remembers her neighbors’ rice fields and shrimp ponds as a thriving business.But now, “Everything is gone, can’t harvest shrimp or fish. It’s changed everyone’s livelihoods,” she says.