This is yet another feel-good idea that will have negative consequences. The entire point of a credit score is to help lenders gauge the amount of risk a person has and the person’s ability to pay off a new debt. Medical debt is still debt that a person must pay. By hiding the medical debt, it is giving the lenders the false impression that the borrower has a greater ability to pay than they actually do. The result is that lenders will lend money to more people who can’t actually afford it. When they can’t pay it back, both the lender and the borrower will be the worse for it. This is harmful policy.

Live within your means and pay cash. Then you don’t have to worry about your credit score.

In a major change that could affect millions of Americans’ credit scores, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday finalized a rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports.