New Jersey residents carrying medical debt just gained new legal protections that will preserve their credit rating and rein in some aggressive tactics by bill collectors. Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed the “Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act,” a law that will, effective immediately, prevent medical bill collectors from reporting any unpaid debt in the state to a consumer credit agency accrued on or after July 22. Most of the other provisions take effect a year from now. They include prohibiting bill collectors from reporting any paid medical debt worth less than $500 to a credit agency,…