1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Veterans Credit Act of 2017”.
Protecting Veterans Credit Act of 2017
A BILL
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to delay the inclusion in consumer credit reports and to establish requirements for debt collectors with respect to medical debt information of veterans due to inappropriate or delayed billing payments or reimbursements from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
2. Purpose
The purposes of this Act are—
to rectify problematic reporting of medical debt included in a consumer report of a veteran due to inappropriate or delayed payment for hospital care or medical services provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs facility under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
to clarify the process of debt collection for such medical debt.
3. Amendments to fair credit reporting act
Veteran’s 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:
“(z) Veteran—The term veteran has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
“(aa) Veteran's medical debt—The term veteran’s medical debt—
“(1) means a debt of a veteran arising from health care provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs facility under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
“(2) includes medical debt that the Department of Veterans Affairs has wrongfully charged a veteran.”
Exclusion for veteran’s medical debt— Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(7) Any information related to a veteran’s medical debt if the date on which the hospital care or medical services was rendered relating to the debt antedates the report by less than 1 year.
“(8) Any information related to a fully paid or settled veteran’s medical debt that had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection.”
Removal of veteran’s medical debt from consumer report— Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended—
in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting “and except as provided in subsection (g)” after “subsection (f)”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Dispute process for veteran’s medical debt
“(1) In general—With respect to a veteran's medical debt of a consumer, the consumer may submit a notice along with proof of liability of the Department of Veterans Affairs for payment of that debt or documentation that the Department of Veterans Affairs is in the process of making payment for authorized medical services rendered to a consumer reporting agency or a reseller to dispute the inclusion of that debt on a consumer report of the consumer.
“(2) Notification to veteran—The Department of Veterans Affairs shall submit to a veteran a notice that the Department of Veterans Affairs has assumed liability for part or all of a veteran's medical debt.
“(3) Deletion of information from file—If a notice and proof of liability or documentation is received under paragraph (1), the consumer reporting agency shall delete all information relating to the veteran’s medical debt from the file of the consumer and notify the furnisher and the consumer of that deletion.”
4. Effective date
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.