‘Fairer’ Debt For Minnesotans Being Debated in the MN House

Medical debt. It's now more American than apple pie, baseball, and rent gouging. Healthcare is not affordable, even under the "Affordable Care Act".

A couple of bills going through the Minnesota House of Representatives looks to finally address medical debt in a way that seeks "fairness" while still holding Minnesotans responsible for at least a good chunk of the medical debt they incur.

Debt Fairness Bills in MN Legislature Seeks to Curb Credit Score Hits From Medical Debt

It feels like a bestish-of-both-worlds: holding Minnesotans mostly responsible for medical debt, but also forbidding that medical debt to affect credit scores.

Right now, the bills would:

• protect that last $4000 in your bank account from debt collectors
• reduce the amount lenders can garnish your wages (based on an income threshold)
• wipe out medical debt for surviving widows and widowers
• keep medical debt from affecting your credit score

Two Powerful Entities Both Back These Bills

The bills going through the Minnesota legislature are being advocated by religious leaders and by Minnesota unions.

Anyone who's had their medical bills sent to collections will surely be interested in this bill. I personally had a $90 medical debt go to collections 2 days before I even received the bill. I got the notice of collections before I got the bill itself for the doctor appointment I had earlier that same month.

In the richest country in the world, even us Poors shouldn't have to rely on GoFundMe campaigns to avoid going bankrupt from medical debt.

We shouldn't have to rely on the generosity of strangers like John Oliver, either.

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H/T: Fox 9