Can Medical Debt Go on Your Credit Report in Texas?

Does Texas have a law that keeps medical debt off credit reports?

No. As of September 2026, Texas has no law that keeps medical debt off your credit report. The National Consumer Law Center tracks these laws, and its list, updated September 21, 2026, counts 15 states plus Washington, D.C. that restrict medical debt reporting. Texas is not on it.

I want to say this plainly because some websites have it wrong. Texas House Bill 880 would have barred medically necessary debt from consumer reports. The Texas Legislature's own records show it was filed in November 2024, referred to the House Trade, Workforce and Economic Development Committee on March 6, 2025, and never moved again. It did not become law. If a website or a sales pitch tells you HB 880 took effect, that information is wrong.

What did the federal court decide about Texas surprise medical bills?

A federal judge struck down the one narrow Texas protection that did exist. On August 10, 2026, in CDIA v. Paxton, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas held that the Fair Credit Reporting Act preempts a Texas law that barred credit bureaus from reporting debts from surprise medical bills, the out-of-network charges patients often have no way to see coming. The court declared that Texas law unenforceable.

According to NCLC, the judge did not go as far as the credit reporting industry asked. The court rejected the argument that federal law blocks every state rule about what goes in a credit report, but held that it does block state rules about adverse information. A medical collection is adverse information, so that is the part that matters for your report.

This fight is not settled. In 2022 the First Circuit, a federal appeals court, held that federal law did not preempt Maine's medical debt law, and the debt collection industry has sued over Colorado's law. The Texas decision came from a trial court, and trial court rulings can be appealed, so treat it as the state of play in September 2026, not the final word.

Is there a federal rule that keeps medical debt off your report instead?

No. The CFPB finalized a rule to remove medical debt from credit reports, but a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas vacated it on July 11, 2025, so no federal ban exists either. That July 2025 decision also included a side comment, not part of the actual ruling, that state laws like these would be preempted. Now a second federal court in Texas has ruled against a state limit, this time as its actual holding.

What keeps most medical bills off Texas credit reports right now?

The credit bureaus' own policies do, and they apply in Texas the same as in every other state. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion announced these changes together in 2022. They are company policies rather than law, which is exactly why you check your own reports instead of assuming the rules were followed.

• Paid medical collections are removed from your report.
• Medical collections under 500 dollars are not reported.
• A medical debt must wait a full year before it can be reported as a collection.

Put those together and the medical debt that should still appear on a Texas report is narrow: an unpaid medical collection of 500 dollars or more that is at least a year old. For how each credit score treats those collections, see my guide to medical debt on your credit report in 2026, linked below.

How do you dispute a medical collection in Texas?

You dispute it under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the same way anyone in the country does, and it costs nothing. You have the right to challenge any medical collection that is inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable, in writing, directly with each credit bureau reporting it. The August ruling limited what Texas can add on top of federal law. It did not touch your federal dispute rights.

• A medical collection you already paid that is still reporting.
• A medical balance under 500 dollars that should not be reporting at all.
• A medical collection that appeared before the bill was a year old.
• A balance that ignores what your insurance already paid, according to your explanation of benefits.
• The same bill reported by two collectors, or a debt that is not yours.

Texas adds one tool of its own, aimed at the collector. Under Texas Finance Code Section 392.202, you can notify a third-party debt collector in writing that an item it is collecting on is inaccurate. If the collector investigates, it has 30 days to send you a written answer, and if it admits the error, it must correct the item within five business days and stop collecting on the inaccurate part.

What should Texans do about medical debt on their reports right now?

Check your reports before you pay anything. Pull them free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, compare each medical entry against the bureau policies above, and send written disputes for anything that breaks them. Because paid medical collections come off under bureau policy, paying a valid medical bill you truly owe can clean up your report in a way paying other collections often does not.

Here at home, nobody is going to hand you a state law that does not exist, and I will not sell you one. No one can remove an accurate, current, verifiable medical collection, and anyone promising that is not being straight with you. If you are already my client, call me at (956) 414-0468 before you pay a medical collector or agree to anything on the phone. If you are new here, book a free credit analysis with the form at the bottom of this page. Every medical dispute is also yours to send for free.