A new bill seeking to lift the burden of medical debt off Minnesota families is gaining support from state leaders.
The Minnesota Debt Fairness bill is being backed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, and co-developer of the bill, Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Governor Walz says an expensive trip to the hospital shouldn't be treated the same as credit card debt.
"Debt, because you had a heart attack or were hit by a car or have an illness is an entirely different thing," says Walz, " And the idea that were charging massive interest on that, that we're reporting it to the credit bureau, and we're destroying lives over it makes absolutely no sense. It does not help the health care system and it certainly doesn't help Minnesotans."
Attorney General Keith Ellison says the current medical debt collection system is broken.
"Don't get me wrong, if you borrow money you should pay it back," says Ellison. "But, we should also all agree that we shouldn't punish people for getting sick. We should all agree that debt collections systems that make it harder for people to pay back what they owe, does nobody any good."
The bill would ban the withholding of medical services due to unpaid debt, reduce high interest rates on medical debts, and stop stop medical debt from being reported to credit bureaus.