Description:
H.R. 2683 would require consumer reporting agencies to verify whether medical debt attributed to a veteran is in fact the responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and require VA to establish a database of information on veterans’ medical debt.
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $15 million over the 2019-2022 period, assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts.
In addition, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2683 would increase direct spending by $2 million over the 2019-2027 period for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to update its rules and expand its supervision of consumer reporting agencies. Because enacting the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2683 would not increase net direct spending by more than $2.5 billion or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2683 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The bill would impose a private-sector mandate by requiring credit-reporting agencies to exclude some medical debt incurred by veterans from their credit reports. CBO estimates that the incremental cost to comply with the mandate would be minimal and would fall well below the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, adjusted for inflation).
