PATCH Act

This bill, S. 4622, the PATCH Act, was introduced by Sen. Kennedy (R-LA) on May 21, 2026, and referred to the Senate Banking Committee. It is in an early stage with no markup or vote scheduled. The bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exclude all 'medical debt' from consumer reports and requires the CFPB to revise Regulation B (Equal Credit Opportunity Act) to bar creditors from using medical debt in credit decisions. There is no authorized funding; this is a regulatory mandate on private companies. The CFPB already finalized a rule in January 2023 removing medical debt under $500 from credit reports, and in January 2025 proposed a broader rule targeting all medical debt. Most major lenders (JPM, BAC, C, WFC) already apply internal policies minimizing medical debt weighting. The incremental impact of this bill is therefore marginal — it would codify existing practices, potentially adding enforcement risk for noncompliance but not changing day-to-day operations. The only potential winners are consumers with outstanding medical debt, who may see slight credit score improvements. No publicly traded company stands to gain or lose significant revenue. Collections agencies and credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion — private or foreign-listed) could see negligible data processing changes. Among major US banks, the affected revenue is below 0.1% of total, making this a neutral event for investors. Timeline: remains in committee; companion bill in House not yet introduced. Passage probability before the 2026 midterms is low given early stage and lack of bipartisan co-sponsors.