Banks, collectors, and other companies said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lacks the authority to make specific rules governing medical credit cards and other financial products patients use to help pay health-care bills.
The CFPB, along with the the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, in July sent out a request for information on the prevalence of medical payment products in the health-care market, and the potential problems they pose for patients and their families.
But health-care credit cards and other targeted products operate much in the same way as financing products in other sectors, so there’s no need for new rules, trade groups representing banks and debt collection agencies said in comment letters to the CFPB ahead of a deadline last week. Health-care providers groups also warned that overregulating such products could lead to people postponing necessary but expensive procedures.
What’s more, the CFPB doesn’t have the power to bring new regulations for medical payment products, the financial services industry said in its letters.
“The term ‘medical payment product’ is not defined and does not constitute a separate product category in the marketplace. There are simply different options available to consumers to pay for medical care and services just as they pay for any other goods or services in the economy,” the Bank Policy Institute and Consumer Bankers Association said in a comment letter.
The way consumers pay for medical care “has no bearing on” issues like access to health insurance and the coverage that insurance plans provide; high prices set by hospitals and other health-care providers; or chaotic billing practices, the banking trade groups added. To read more click here.