Medical debt and credit reports in Connecticut

Connecticut law bans medical debt from credit reports.

No health care provider or company that buys or collects medical debt may report any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

The rule in Connecticut

Full ban

No health care provider or company that buys or collects medical debt may report any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau. Any part of a medical debt that is reported is void. Providers must put this ban in their contracts with collectors and debt buyers. Medical debt charged to a general credit card is not covered.

Who the rule covers: Health care providers and any collection entity (collectors and debt buyers), including hospitals, their affiliated providers and their collection agents

In effect since: July 1, 2024

Law: Public Act 24-6, sec. 1; Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673b(c)(1)

State bans and federal law

In January 2025 the CFPB issued a rule to keep most medical debt off credit reports. On July 11, 2025 a federal court in Texas vacated (cancelled) that rule at the joint request of the CFPB and the plaintiffs. The rule is not in effect.
On October 28, 2025 the CFPB published its view that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act generally overrides (preempts) state laws that keep categories of information such as medical debt off credit reports. The CFPB also said its guidance is not binding and that courts decide these questions.
On August 10, 2026 a federal court in Texas declared that a Texas law barring credit bureaus from reporting certain out-of-network medical debt is preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and barred the state from enforcing it. That ruling is about the Texas law; laws in other states are decided case by case.

Law: Cornerstone Credit Union League v. CFPB, No. 4:25-cv-16 (E.D. Tex. July 11, 2025); CFPB; CFPB interpretive rule, Fair Credit Reporting Act; Preemption of State Laws, 90 FR 48710 (Oct. 28, 2025); Consumer Data Industry Ass'n v. Texas, No. 1:19-CV-876-RP (W.D. Tex. Aug. 10, 2026)

Other limits on collection in Connecticut

Waiting rules: Before a hospital or a provider it owns or is affiliated with sends a hospital bill to a collection agent or sues you, it must first determine whether you are an uninsured patient eligible for its hospital bed fund. If at any point, even after a judgment, the hospital or collector learns you may be eligible for bed funds, free or reduced-price care or another program that would erase or reduce the bill, it must promptly stop all collection and send the file back to the hospital until the hospital decides. Collection may not resume before that decision.
Liens on your home: A hospital, a provider it owns or is affiliated with, or its collection agent may place a lien on your home, but may not foreclose on a lien on your primary residence for care provided on or after October 1, 2022.
Wage garnishment: A hospital, its affiliated providers and its collection agents may not garnish your wages for care provided on or after October 1, 2022 if you are eligible for the hospital bed fund. For any debt, Connecticut's general limit is stricter than federal law: no more than the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount above 40 times the higher of the federal or Connecticut minimum hourly wage.
Lawsuit rules: Hospitals may still sue to collect coinsurance, deductibles or fees that may be paid from a settlement, award or judgment, or when payment has been or will likely be made directly to you.

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673b, 19a-673d, 37-3a(b), 52-361a(f)

Is my debt too old in Connecticut?

Kind of agreement	Time limit to sue
Written contract	6 years
Open account	6 years
Oral (spoken) agreement	3 years

A lawsuit on an account, a simple or implied contract, or a written contract must be filed within 6 years after the right to sue arises. A lawsuit on an agreement that is not in writing (and not signed) must be filed within 3 years.

When the clock starts

When the right of action accrues (the code does not say when that is for a medical bill).

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576, 52-581

A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.

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Where to complain in Connecticut

Health plan problems: Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA) · 1-866-466-4446
Help with insurance denials, surprise bills, hospital financial assistance and medical debt questions.
Health insurance: Connecticut Insurance Department, Consumer Affairs · (800) 203-3447 or (860) 297-3900
A complaint against a health insurance company regulated by the state.
Debt collectors: Connecticut Department of Banking, Consumer Affairs · 860-240-8170 or 1-800-831-7225 (option 2)
A collection agency broke state collection rules.
Attorney general: Connecticut Attorney General, Consumer Assistance
Other consumer complaints, including credit reporting or card-on-file violations.

Questions about medical bills in Connecticut

Can medical debt be reported to credit bureaus in Connecticut?

Connecticut law bans medical debt from credit reports. No health care provider or company that buys or collects medical debt may report any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau.

How long can a medical bill be collected or sued on in Connecticut?

Nearby states

National rules that apply in every state

Nonprofit hospitals (federal rules)

Each nonprofit hospital must have a written financial assistance policy (FAP).

Law: 26 U.S.C. 501(r)(4); 26 CFR 1.501(r)-4

Before any ECA, the hospital must tell you about financial assistance and wait at least 120 days from the first bill sent after you left the hospital.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-6(c)(3)

You can apply for at least 240 days from the first bill sent after you left the hospital.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-1(b)(3)

If you apply during the application period, even with an incomplete application, the hospital and its collectors must stop starting or continuing ECAs until the hospital decides, or until you fail to send requested information within a reasonable time.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-6(c)(8)

Once you are found eligible, the hospital cannot charge you more than the amounts generally billed (AGB) to people with insurance for emergency or other medically necessary care, and must charge less than its full gross charges for other covered care.

Law: 26 U.S.C. 501(r)(5); 26 CFR 1.501(r)-5

Surprise bills (No Surprises Act)

With most private health plans (job-based plans, Marketplace and other individual plans), you are protected from surprise out-of-network bills for emergency care, for non-emergency care at an in-network hospital, hospital outpatient department or ambulatory surgical center, and for air ambulance services.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-111, 300gg-131, 300gg-132, 300gg-135

For protected services, you can't be charged more than your in-network cost-sharing (copay, coinsurance, deductible).

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-131, 300gg-132

Ground ambulance services are generally not covered by these federal protections, unless a state law has different rules.

Law: CMS, Know your rights when using insurance

If you don't have insurance or won't use it, providers and facilities must usually give you a written good faith estimate.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-136; 45 CFR 149.610

If one provider's or facility's bill is at least $400 more than its good faith estimate, you can use the federal patient-provider dispute resolution process.

Law: 45 CFR 149.620(a)(2)(ii), (c)(1)

Credit reports

A collection account generally cannot be reported for more than 7 years.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1)

For a veteran's medical debt (care authorized by the VA from a non-VA provider, or a bill the VA charged in error), nationwide credit bureaus may not report it until 1 year after the care, and may not report it once it is fully paid or settled, when they know it is a veteran's medical debt.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(7), (8); 15 U.S.C. 1681a

If a medical debt on your credit report is wrong, you can dispute it with the credit bureau for free.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)

Debt collectors

A debt collector must give you validation information about the debt, including the amount and how to dispute it.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.34

If you dispute the debt in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting the disputed amount until it sends you verification of the debt.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.38(c), (d)(2)

A debt collector must not sue or threaten to sue you on a time-barred debt, meaning a debt whose statute of limitations has run out.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.26(b)

Itemized bills and price lists

Your medical and billing records kept by a health care provider are part of your 'designated record set'.

Law: 45 CFR 164.501 (designated record set); 45 CFR 164.524(b)(2)

If Medicare paid for an item or service, you can ask the provider in writing for an itemized statement.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1395b-7(b)

Every hospital must post online a machine-readable file of all its standard charges, and a consumer-friendly list of at least 300 shoppable services (or an online price estimator tool).

Law: 45 CFR 180.40, 180.50, 180.60

Medicaid and Medicare

If you qualify for Medicaid, it can pay for covered care you got up to 3 months before the month you applied, if you were eligible then.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(34), 1396d(a); Pub. L. 119-21, sec. 71112 (July 4, 2025)

If you are in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program, Medicare providers may not bill you for Medicare deductibles, coinsurance or copays for Medicare-covered care.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396a(n)(3)(B); CMS

If your health plan denies a claim

You must file an internal appeal within 180 days (6 months) of the notice that your claim was denied.

Law: 45 CFR 147.136(b); HealthCare.gov

After a final denial, you can ask for an external review by an independent reviewer within 4 months.

Law: 45 CFR 147.136(c), (d); HealthCare.gov

National help