Walt Myers, Cancer Legal Care board member, shares his experience during the February 9, 2024 press conference held by Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, MN Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Senator Sen. Liz Boldon RN, MSN, State Representative Liz Reyer, announcing introduction of the Medical Debt Fairness Act.
Medical Debt Reform provisions of the Debt Fairness Act
Effective October 1, 2024
1. Ban medical debt from being reported to credit bureaus (New Statute: 332C.03).
2. Ban medical providers from withholding medically necessary care due to unpaid debt
(New Statute: Minn. Stat. 62J.806).
3. Eliminate automatically transferring medical debt to a patient’s spouse (Minn. Stat.
519.05).
4. Establish new medical debt collection rights, enforceable by the Attorney General and
private right of action, including attorney fee-shifting and a per-violation statutory
damage award pegged to the Consumer Price Index (New Statute: Minn. Stat. 332C.02
and 332C.05), including:
a. Parties collecting medical debt cannot use robo dialers to collect debt.
b. Parties collecting medical debt cannot say medical services will be withheld if the
debt is not paid.
c. Parties collecting medical debt cannot contact third parties about debt.
d. Parties collecting medical debt must notify patients of their right to hire an
attorney or contact the Attorney General regarding the debt.
e. Parties collecting medical debt cannot violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act or any other Minnesota statute.
5. Require that Minnesotans who successfully defend medical debt collection lawsuits must
be paid their attorney’s fees incurred in defending the case (New Statute: Minn. Stat.
332C.04).
6. Require medical providers to publish their medical debt collection practices (New Statute:
Minn. Stat. 62J.806).
7. Establish new process for patients to dispute incorrect coding or billing of medical care
(New Statute: Minn. Stat. 62J.808).
Cancer Legal Care clients, staff, and board were very involved in education around the need for the new law's protections and in speaking with law makers about the impact medical debt has on our clients' lives. Our official statement is here: Cancer Legal Care Official Statement on Proposed Minnesota Debt Fairness Act (HF 4100/SF 4065)
