Medical debt and your credit: It's changing and we have an update

Marketplace Morning Report

American Public Media

News, Business

4.5 • 808 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Money borrowed for hospitalization is seen by many as different from paying what you owe for consumer goods: The debt is seldom from discretionary spending. The Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had moved to protect credit scores from medical debt, but the agency is now reversing course. A nonprofit called Undue Medical Debt, led by CEO Allison Sesso, works to pay off people's medical debt as a charitable endeavor. But first, Trump's spending bill moves to the Senate.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Medical debt in your credit, it is changing, and we have an update.
0:05.9	Now that members of Congress are back from the holiday break, the focus is on Republicans in the Senate trying their hand at the big spending and taxing bill.
0:14.3	Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzor reports.
0:16.6	The bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
0:22.4	It would also boost spending on defense and border security. All that's expensive. The
0:27.5	Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would increase the federal deficit by
0:32.3	almost $4 trillion. That upsets Senate deficit hawks who want to lower the bill's price tag.
0:38.4	Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, is calling for a return to pre-pandemic spending levels.
0:44.5	Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wants to drop a provision in the bill that would
0:48.8	raise the federal debt ceiling. Other GOP senators like Josh Hawley of Missouri object to potential cuts to Medicaid,
0:56.6	which provides health care to low-income Americans. Holly wrote an op-ed in the New York Times.
1:02.2	He said around 21 percent of Missouri residents benefit from Medicaid or CHIP, which ensures
1:07.9	low-income children. Democrats are not expected to support the legislation,
1:12.6	which means Republicans can't afford many defections. The House would have to approve any Senate
1:17.7	changes, which would take time. Republicans want the bill on President Trump's desk ready for
1:23.4	his signature by July 4th. I'm Nancy Marshall Genser for Marketplace.
1:28.9	U.S. import taxes and general uncertainty about tariffs will slow economic growth this year
1:35.3	around the world. That's the calculation from the club of larger industrialized countries,
1:39.7	the OECD, based in Europe. My Marketplace BBC colleague Leanna Byrne has more. A global economy is losing steam, according to the OECD based in Europe. My Marketplace BBC colleague Leanna Byrne has more.
1:45.2	A global economy is losing steam, according to the OECD, which now expects growth to fall to just 2.9% this year and next.
1:53.6	That's a downgrade from earlier forecasts. Chief economist Alverro Pereira told me,
1:58.4	a big reason is rising tariffs, especially in the US, where new
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