Fico recently introduced big changes to the way the credit agency calculates scores. Consumer advocates had been petitioning the agency for some time to implement rule changes, specifically pertaining to medical bills. Medical costs are mostly out of a consumer’s control and consumers reported being unaware that the account even existed or believed it was paid by their insurance. What’s worse is that experts don’t believe that lack of payment on medical bills is any indication of a consumer’s likelihood to pay, which is supposed to be the score's intent. According to the Consumer Finance Production Bureau’s report “
Medical Debt and Credit Scores” released in May 2014, concluded that consumers with medical accounts in collection that had more paid than non-paid medical accounts were just as likely to pay a regular account as well as a consumer with a score that was 20 points higher.
