Marchant pulls support for medical debt relief bill

Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) this week withdrew his support for legislation to prevent paid medical debts from affecting consumers' credit scores.

Sponsored by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), the proposal would prohibit credit-rating agencies from considering paid medical debts when calculating those scores.

"People shouldn’t have their credit worthiness suffer because they got sick or injured,” Kilroy said in introducing the bill last year. "It is outrageous that bills for as little as a one-dollar dispute with insurance companies are driving up the mortgages of my constituents.”

Marchant's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.