MPR Podcast on Minnesota’s Medical Debt Burden

Two years ago, Angela Davis with MPR News spoke with three guests about tackling Minnesota’s medical debt burden, and the State’s plans to change how that debt is handled by providers and the courts. One of the guests was Laura Orr, staff attorney with the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, and a former elder law attorney at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS). Laura was joined by Allison Sesso, president and CEO of RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit organization that uses donations to buy and forgive medical debt, and Kim Miller, a certified financial counselor with LSS Financial Counseling, a service of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota. You can listen to a recent rebroadcast of that informative conversation on MPR News: Tackling the burden of medical debt | MPR News.

Fast forward to February of this year, and the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) has released its comprehensive Consumer Debt Litigation Report to address the countless Minnesotans affected by the burden of consumer debt. At the press conference for the report’s release, debt solution proposals were previewed, notably the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act supported by Attorney General Keith Ellison. If passed, the Act will include unique provisions for medical debt.

"Fixing the flaws in our debt system is a matter of dignity, respect, and justice," AG Ellison wrote on Twitter Monday night. For an update on the legislation’s progress, read How the Debt Fairness Act proposes to help Minnesotans in medical debt.