The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday finalized a new federal rule that would eliminate medical debt from consumer credit reports.

There is an estimated $49 billion in unpaid medical bills from the credit reports of roughly 15 million Americans, according to the bureau. Eliminating medical debt on people’s credit scores could help boost those borrowers’ scores by an average of 20 points, which would help them qualify for mortgages and other loans.

“No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement touting the new rule.

“This will be life-changing for millions of families, making it easier for them to be approved for a car loan, a home loan or a small-business loan,” Harris added.

President Joe Biden’s administration announced the proposal in June. At the time of the announcement, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the rule would be an “enormous relief” for people with medical bills.

“Our research shows that medical bills on your credit report aren’t even predictive of whether you’ll repay another type of loan. That means people’s credit scores are being unjustly and inappropriately harmed by this practice,” Chopra said.

Medical debt totals nearly $50 billion nationwide. According to the White House, there will be “zero Americans with medical debt listed on their credit reports,” which is down from 46 million in 2020.

Credit reporting, a threat that has been used by medical providers and debt collectors to convince patients to pay their bills, is the most common collection tactic used by hospitals, according to an analysis from KFF Health News.

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Major credit reporting agencies have already announced they would voluntarily take steps to remove medical debt from their reports.

The final rule is set to take effect in March, but it could be pushed back if legal challenges emerge.