Star Tribune
Minnesota medical debt protections kick in
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.
Brooklyn Park police are seeking the public’s help in finding the driver of a vehicle that struck and injured a 12-year-old girl walking to school on Wednesday.
The crash occurred at 8:42 a.m. near the intersection of Boone Av. N and 63rd Av. N. The girl was crossing the street to reach a bus stop, according to police. The driver then fled the scene.
The girl sustained “moderate injuries” and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, police said.
Police described the vehicle as a white 2015 to 2019 Hyundai Sonata that is missing a passenger side rearview mirror. Police said the driver was a woman, but did not have a specific description. The vehicle came from the west across 63rd Avenue from the Bass Creek neighborhood between Highway 169 & Boone Avenue , then continued east on 63rd Avenue toward County Road 81.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Brooklyn Park police at (763) 493-8222.
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is expanding his plans of renovating the Xcel Energy Center to include the construction of a 650-room convention center hotel.
It originally included plans to renovate the adjacent RiverCentre, a parking ramp and a bridge along Kellogg Boulevard. It was previously estimated to cost around $250 million to $300 million.
The price tag will rise now, Leipold said, but he did not specify how much. A 650-room hotel would top in size the 410-room InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel that is already downtown.
“The whole project is so great for downtown St. Paul, and it’s not just the arena,” Leipold said. “It’s a lot of stuff, so we think it’s great for downtown. It’s good for our fans, good for our market and we’re pushing hard this year.”
Minnesota Wild fans cross St. Paul’s West Seventh Street to the Xcel Energy Center before a Minnesota Wild game in October 2021. (Alex Kormann)
Leipold said the Wild would perhaps contribute up to $250 million in financing and would seek further assistance from the state. But he said it’s unclear what the chances are to receive that support, given the November elections could potentially result in a new governor and the Legislature in Minnesota.
“We’re trying to sell the legislature and the governor,” Leipold said. “The problem is, nobody knows who’s going to be running the legislature, Republicans or Democrats. We don’t know who the governor’s going to be. We’re kind of in a tough spot right now. But ultimately, we need to get the renovations and the upgrades in this arena.”
State Sen. Sandra Pappas, who expressed skepticism about the project receiving state assistance last December, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. The office of Gov. Tim Walz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit alleges there is no plan for single-family homes at the development, which will instead be multi-family homes. Buyers will have to obtain either a traditional mortgage, with interest, or “obtain a loan from a Sharia-compliant lender” that Nolosha knew would charge a “profit rate” on top of the cost of the house. It also alleges that “most egregiously” customers will not be able to move into Nolosha in 2023 or 2024 because the development will not be ready for “many more years at best.”
It also says that when the Attorney General’s Office requested that Nolosha pay customers a full refund due to the delays, Nolosha refused.
The Attorney General’s Office contends that Nolosha doesn’t own the development’s proposed site in Lakeville, but offered to buy the land for $4 million in April 2023. Four extensions to the closing date have since been granted, the latest setting that date for Nov. 10 and the price at $3.4 million.
Abdullahi has said he has a signed purchase agreement for the property.
The lawsuit states that Nolosha has lacked even basic communication with Lakeville and has not submitted a comprehensive plan to the city about the development, let alone broken ground. Attached to the lawsuit is a photo of the proposed site, calling it “just undeveloped wetlands.”
It accuses Abdullahi of enriching himself as the “sole full-time employee of Nolosha” earning a salary between $2,000 and $4,000 per month.
