DEBT

New policies to keep medical bills from sinking credit ratings sound good but will likely fall short for many hit hardest by debt — especially Black Americans in the South, such as Penelope Wingard.

Health care costs can become overwhelming, but consumers often have more power than they think in dealing with debt.

The initiative would use COVID-19 relief money to transfer medical bill debt to a nonprofit group, which would forgive it.

Help is coming for many people struggling with medical debt on credit reports.

The report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes as the agency explores ways to mitigate the impact that medical debt can have on consumer credit.

The Biden administration announced new measures to ease the financial burden of high medical bills. Here's how the measures can help and what's still missing to protect patients.

Efforts are afoot to reduce the impact of unpaid medical debt on consumers, yet more could be done, advocates say.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion recently announced that starting July 1, they will remove nearly 70% of medical debt from credit reports.

The Illinois House approved a plan to use federal coronavirus relief funding the state received last year to partially plug a hole in the state’s unemployment insurance fund.

A significant number of U.S. consumers will have their medical collection debt dropped from their credit report, the nation's biggest credit reporting bureaus announced Friday.

Over half of Americans have up to $10,000 in medical expenses, whether they have health insurance or not.

Credit card interest rates are expected rise this year. Bill Spencer shows you how to lower your credit card interest rates.

CNN President Jeff Zucker has abruptly resigned after acknowledging a consensual relationship with another network executive. (Feb. 2)

Asset sales can offer only temporary relief for an industry drowning in debt.

Medical debt is a growing burden among Americans, with more than 1 in 3 adults carrying a balance, according to a survey from Healthcare.com.

The pandemic has been tough for many Americans but especially on women resulting in what’s being called the 'She-cession.' Here's a rule-of-thumb to get back on your financial feet and grow your wealth.

Health care company CEO says the lucky recipients will soon receive letters informing them that their debt is gone.

Medical bills were the largest source of debt in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020, with a record $140 billion owed last year, a recent study found.

MARFA – The City of Marfa is mailing out notifications to some residents with overdue bills, with notices likely to hit inboxes early next week. The notifications by mail is the latest effort by the City of Marfa to collect on overdue utility payments that have saddled the city with over half a million dollars in unpaid bills.

A Fort Bend County church acquired and forgave over $1.9 million in medical debt for local residents.

As the student debt crisis hits $1.7 trillion in outstanding loans, many employers have taken a step that could slowly reduce student loan debt among their workers by offering student loan repayment assistance as an employee benefit. The assistance comes after the COVID-19 relief package was passed last December, which allows employers to make contributions of up to $5,250 a year to their employee’s student debt through 2025. Watch the video attached to this story for more.

HOUSTON – Federal student loan borrowers may receive some reprieve this month once President-elect Joe Biden takes office. “I do have student loan debt. Americans as a collective have about $1.7 trillion in student loan debt with the average 2019 graduate carrying a $28,950 balance, according to the Federal Reserve. The incoming president is also considering erasing $10,000 in federal student loan debt per person, which has sparked controversy. “It really, again, disproportionately benefits higher income households relative to low income households.

According to a study performed by WalletHub, Houston is the 8th most financially distressed city amid the coronavirus pandemic. Out of 100 cities across the U.S., Houston is among five Texas cities ranking in the top 10. Experts found Houston scored the worst in the “Debt” and “Loans” search interest indexes, ranking first in these categories. The study also found Houston was one of the worst cities with a share of people with accounts in distress and the average number of accounts in distress in November. Additionally, Houston fell in the middle, ranking 25th for average credit score in November.

How to manage debt and deal with debt collectors The COVID-19 pandemic is making the holiday season even more stressful. At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, how do you put gifts under the tree without driving yourself into debt? Dan Geltrude, CPA and founder of Geltrude & Company, joins CBSN to discuss how to better manage your debt.

Oportun Inc. also said it would cap interest rates on new loans at 36% a percentage that consumer advocates consider the gold standard for smaller personal loans. That reporting has included interviews with individuals whom Oportun sued in small claims courts across the state, as well as numerous consumer advocates. Court records show that it has filed thousands of debt claims in Texas this year alone and tens of thousands since 2016. Some consumer advocates believe that size APR is still too high, but it is considered a gold standard ceiling for the kind of smaller installment loans that Oportun offers, which range from $300 to $10,000. Consumer advocates and attorneys praised the move, with some caveats, and said they hoped it would inspire other installment lenders, subprime and otherwise, to follow suit and possibly generate momentum for a nationwide interest-rate cap.

Tax season and credit cards seem to go hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly, at least if you believe the findings of a recent study conducted by Credit Card Insider. Using SurveyMonkey to conduct an online survey of 3,114 adults from Feb. 3-5, Credit Card Insider found out the following information when it comes to how important credit cards are for people during tax season. 14% of respondents who expected to owe this year planned on using a credit card to pay their taxes. Of those expecting a tax refund, 40% had credit card debt. 75% of those with debt plan to use their tax refund toward paying it off.

The student loan numbers are staggering: 40 million borrowers with more than $1.2 trillion in outstanding debt. That’s an average student loan balance of $29,000. Yahoo finance senior columnist Michael Santoli joins “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to discuss how the debt is attracting scam artists.