{"title":"Are All Collections Equal? The Case of Medical Debt","authors":"Kenneth P. Brevoort, Michelle Kambara","doi":"10.21314/jcr.2015.201","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Bills for unreimbursed medical care may be reported to national credit reporting agencies by third-party debt collectors. The use of this information in credit scoring models, which have not traditionally distinguished collection accounts for medical bills from other collection accounts, has been controversial because of the unique characteristics of medical debt. This paper explores the predictive value of medical collections in the context of a credit scoring model. We find that medical collections are less predictive of future credit performance than nonmedical collections. We also find that medical collections that have been paid in full are less predictive than those that remain unpaid. These results suggest that the practice of treating all collections the same over-penalizes the credit scores of consumers with medical collections and reduces the predictiveness of credit scoring models.","PeriodicalId":44244,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Credit Risk","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2015-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"9","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Credit Risk","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.21314/jcr.2015.201","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Economics, Econometrics and Finance","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 9
Abstract
Bills for unreimbursed medical care may be reported to national credit reporting agencies by third-party debt collectors. The use of this information in credit scoring models, which have not traditionally distinguished collection accounts for medical bills from other collection accounts, has been controversial because of the unique characteristics of medical debt. This paper explores the predictive value of medical collections in the context of a credit scoring model. We find that medical collections are less predictive of future credit performance than nonmedical collections. We also find that medical collections that have been paid in full are less predictive than those that remain unpaid. These results suggest that the practice of treating all collections the same over-penalizes the credit scores of consumers with medical collections and reduces the predictiveness of credit scoring models.
期刊介绍:
With the re-writing of the Basel accords in international banking and their ensuing application, interest in credit risk has never been greater. The Journal of Credit Risk focuses on the measurement and management of credit risk, the valuation and hedging of credit products, and aims to promote a greater understanding in the area of credit risk theory and practice. The Journal of Credit Risk considers submissions in the form of research papers and technical papers, on topics including, but not limited to: Modelling and management of portfolio credit risk Recent advances in parameterizing credit risk models: default probability estimation, copulas and credit risk correlation, recoveries and loss given default, collateral valuation, loss distributions and extreme events Pricing and hedging of credit derivatives Structured credit products and securitizations e.g. collateralized debt obligations, synthetic securitizations, credit baskets, etc. Measuring managing and hedging counterparty credit risk Credit risk transfer techniques Liquidity risk and extreme credit events Regulatory issues, such as Basel II, internal ratings systems, credit-scoring techniques and credit risk capital adequacy.