The statute’s amendments make two bright-line rules: (1) no person may report medical debt to a consumer reporting agency, and a CRA may not issue a report that it knows or should know includes medical-debt information. Lawmakers also framed the policy so medical bills aren’t used in credit, employment, or housing decisions. 

If a Delaware consumer still sees a medical tradeline, they can dispute it and cite Title 6, Chapter 25J (§ 2507J), which contains the reporting and inclusion prohibitions now in force. (Collection-side limits and buyer/collector provisions in the Act reinforce the ban on furnishing medical-debt data to CRAs.) 

The change slots into a wider national shift away from using medical bills in credit files: multiple states have adopted similar measures, and Delaware’s approach is among the strictest (a total ban). At the federal level, the CFPB’s attempt to remove medical debt nationally has faced litigation and a court setback, and separate signals about FCRA preemption could test state bans. For now, Delaware’s protections are live, and with late-stage delinquencies drawing more lender scrutiny, cleaning up any lingering medical entries is a quick win for consumers trying to preserve scores heading into 2026.

Delaware’s move aligns with a broader trend of limiting the use of medical bills in credit decisions—a practical win for people looking to improve credit score by clearing inaccurate or outdated medical entries. While federal preemption questions may continue to surface, Delaware’s protections are in force now, giving consumers a clearer path to clean up reports heading into 2026.