Medical debt and credit reports in Maine

Maine law bans medical debt from credit reports.

A credit bureau may not put medical debt on your credit report, and a health care provider you owe, a debt collector or a debt buyer may not report your medical debt to a credit bureau.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

The rule in Maine

Full ban

A credit bureau may not put medical debt on your credit report, and a health care provider you owe, a debt collector or a debt buyer may not report your medical debt to a credit bureau. Medical debt includes health care services, dental care, equipment and prescription drugs, and medical credit cards used only for health care, but not debts charged to a general credit card or home equity line, or secured debts.

Who the rule covers: Credit bureaus (may not report medical debt) and medical creditors, debt collectors and debt buyers (may not report medical debt to a credit bureau).

In effect since: September 24, 2025

It covers both paid and unpaid debt.

Law: 10 M.R.S. § 1310-H(4); 32 M.R.S. § 11002(7-A)

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 Maine

Waiting rules: Before a debt collector sues you on a medical debt, it must have sent you a written notice saying it may not sue if your household income is at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, and given you at least 30 days to show your income. If a collector is told you may qualify for charity care, it must stop collecting until the hospital tells you and the collector that you don't qualify, and it may not collect at all from someone who qualifies (or would have qualified but had good cause not to apply).
Liens on your home: Your main home is exempt from attachment and execution for medical debt. A debt collector may not start an action to attach your main home for a medical debt judgment, and an execution against your main home may not be filed for a judgment based on medical debt.
Wage garnishment: Wages cannot be garnished for a judgment based on medical debt. A debt collector may not start a wage garnishment for medical debt, and a court may not order one.
Lawsuit rules: A debt collector may not sue on medical debt without proof that it sent the 300%-of-poverty notice and waited at least 30 days, and may not suggest it will sue on medical debt. A debt collector may not bring a collection case against you in small claims court.

Law: 32 M.R.S. § 11013(2)(Q)-(S), (3)(O)-(Q), (11)-(13), 11021; 9-A M.R.S. § 5-116-A(5)-(6); 14 M.R.S. §§ 4422(1)(F), 4655

Is my debt too old in Maine?

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

Most civil lawsuits, including suits on contracts and accounts, must be filed within 6 years after the claim arises. A debt collector may not sue more than 6 years after your last activity on the debt.

What can restart the clock

For debt collectors, once the 6 years have passed, a later payment, a written or spoken promise or other activity does not revive or extend the time to sue.

When the clock starts

For debt collectors, the 6 years run from your last activity on the debt.

Law: 14 M.R.S. § 752; 32 M.R.S. § 11013(7)-(8)

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 Maine

Hospital bills and financial assistance: Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Licensing and Certification
A hospital did not follow the charity care or financial assistance rules, or you want to complain about a licensed hospital or facility.
Health insurance: Maine Bureau of Insurance, Consumer Health Care Division · 1-800-300-5000
Problems with a state-regulated health plan, including surprise bills, emergency or ambulance bills and denials.
Debt collectors: Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection · 1-800-332-8529
A debt collector or debt buyer broke Maine's medical debt collection or credit reporting rules.

Questions about medical bills in Maine

Can medical debt be reported to credit bureaus in Maine?

Maine law bans medical debt from credit reports. A credit bureau may not put medical debt on your credit report, and a health care provider you owe, a debt collector or a debt buyer may not report your medical debt to a credit bureau.

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

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

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