Medical debt and credit reports in Oregon

Oregon law bans medical debt from credit reports.

No one may report the amount or existence of an Oregon resident's medical debt to a credit bureau, and credit bureaus may not include an item they know or should know is medical debt.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

The rule in Oregon

Full ban

No one may report the amount or existence of an Oregon resident's medical debt to a credit bureau, and credit bureaus may not include an item they know or should know is medical debt. If someone reports it, a court may declare the debt void and uncollectible. Medical debt includes bills that are not past due or have been paid, and medical credit cards used only for medical care.

Who the rule covers: Everyone: no person may report an Oregon resident's medical debt to a credit bureau, and credit bureaus may not include medical debt in a credit report

In effect since: January 1, 2026

It covers both paid and unpaid debt.

Law: ORS 646A.677(1)(g), (11), (12) (Or. Laws 2025, ch. 343, SB 605)

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 Oregon

Waiting rules: Before a hospital or nonprofit hospital clinic sends an unpaid bill to a debt collector or refers it for collection, it must screen you for financial assistance and send you a copy of its financial assistance policy and an application. While a financial assistance appeal is pending, the hospital must stop collection and tell any collection agency to stop. Hospitals and collectors may not try to collect a medical debt from your children or other relatives who are not legally responsible for it.
Wage garnishment: 75% of your disposable earnings are protected, and you keep at least $400 a week (for wages paid July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027; $832 for two weeks, $912 for a half month, $1,792 for a month). From July 1, 2027, the weekly amount is 30 times the Oregon minimum wage. This is more than federal law protects.

Law: ORS 646A.677(4), (7)-(10); ORS 442.615(9); ORS 18.385

Is my debt too old in Oregon?

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

A lawsuit on a contract or liability, express or implied (written or not), must be filed within 6 years.

What can restart the clock

A payment of principal or interest made after the debt is due restarts the 6 years from the last payment. A promise or acknowledgment counts only if it is in writing and signed by you.

Law: ORS 12.080(1), 12.230, 12.240

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 Oregon

Hospital licensing: Oregon Health Authority, Health Facility Licensing and Certification · 971-673-0540
Complaints about a hospital or other licensed health care facility.
Health insurance: Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (consumer advocates) · 1-888-877-4894
A surprise bill, ground ambulance bill or claim problem with a state-regulated health plan, or a problem with an unregistered collection agency.
Attorney general: Oregon Department of Justice, Consumer Protection · 1-877-877-9392
A hospital, collector or credit bureau broke medical debt rules (such as screening, interest or credit reporting) or used unfair collection practices.

Questions about medical bills in Oregon

Can medical debt be reported to credit bureaus in Oregon?

Oregon law bans medical debt from credit reports. No one may report the amount or existence of an Oregon resident's medical debt to a credit bureau, and credit bureaus may not include an item they know or should know is medical debt.

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

A lawsuit on a contract or liability, express or implied (written or not), must be filed within 6 years.

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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