State Attorney General Keith Ellison encouraged Minnesotans to take advantage of a free legal clinic on Saturday that can advise them of their protections from consumer and medical debts, including new protections that became law this week.

Under the law that took effect Tuesday, Minnesotans can no longer have their overdue medical debts reported to credit rating agencies, and unpaid medical bills do not automatically transfer to a spouse, even after a death. Providers also can’t deny care to patients based on the fact that they owe overdue debts.

While those protections will spare Minnesotans from “unfair and undignified” collection practices, Ellison said, people still ultimately need to confront their debts. Saturday’s legal clinic from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center in Minneapolis is one way they can learn their best options for negotiating settlements or even shielding their assets by filing bankruptcy.

People might feel shame over medical debts, even if they were caused by diseases beyond their control, but ignoring them can increase financial and emotional burdens, Ellison said. “It’s not going to get better if you just let them bills accumulate and you just get more stressed out about it.”

Hospitals and clinics took different approaches when it came to denial of care for patients with overdue bills. Media coverage of this practice by Allina Health prompted the legislation by DFL lawmakers, along with a report showing how many lawsuits in state district court involved consumer or medical debt.

Sen. Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester, said she coauthored the legislation based on hardship stories she heard from Minnesotans, including a parent whose child was at risk of losing access to care for a degenerative and potentially blinding eye disorder because of medical debts.

“Nobody is asking for a free ride,” she said. “They’re asking for a fair shot.”

While creditors can no longer sue spouses over partners’ overdue medical debts, Ellison said it is unclear what the law will do to existing lawsuits. Judges may have to decide in those cases whether to remove spouses as defendants, he said.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump ”resorted to crimes” in a failed bid to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a newly unsealed court filing that argues that the former president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution.

The filing was unsealed Wednesday. It was submitted by special counsel Jack Smith’s team following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents and narrowed the scope of the prosecution.

From March 4, 2016, through June 25, 2020, Hu routinely directed CAH employees to bill for one hour of acupuncture services, even though sessions lasted no longer than 30 to 45 minutes, with many ending after 15 minutes.

The former employees said that when they challenged Hu about this, she rebuffed them and said to continue documenting services as one hour. Some former employees said they quit over the billing practices.

Investigators also found that the clinics billed for months — and on one occasion years — after clients stopped receiving services at the clinics.

CAH also billed for acupuncture services provided in a client’s home without the required prior authorization for a home visit, used acupuncture billing codes to bill for services that were not covered acupuncture services, and used the credentials of another acupuncturist to bill for services provided to clients with a particular insurance company after the company excluded CAH from its network.

Hu also regularly signed, and directed others to sign, verifications for language interpreter services that did not happen, the investigation found.