Medical bills in Minnesota: free care, credit reports and your rights

Can I get my bill reduced in Minnesota?

Minnesota has a state charity-care law, but it does not set one income limit: each hospital's policy decides who gets free or discounted care.

The law

Minnesota hospital charity care screening and uninsured billing law

Law: Minn. Stat. 144.587-144.589; Minn. Stat. 144.587, 144.589; Minn. Stat. 62J.806, 62J.807, 62J.808, 62J.83

Which hospitals

All private, nonprofit and municipal hospitals licensed in Minnesota.

Who can get help

Uninsured patients, and patients whose insurance status the hospital does not know, must be screened for charity care. The limit on charges protects uninsured patients with yearly household income under $125,000 for care not covered by insurance.

The most you can be charged

If your yearly household income is less than $125,000, a hospital may not charge you for care that is not covered by insurance more than the lowest total amount it would be paid for the same care by a private insurer (counting both the insurer's payment and the patient's copay, deductible and coinsurance).

Law: Minn. Stat. 144.587, 144.589; Minn. Stat. 62J.806, 62J.807, 62J.808, 62J.83

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Is my debt too old in Minnesota?

A lawsuit on a consumer debt for personal, family or household purposes must be filed within 6 years. A lawsuit on a contract or other obligation, written or not, must also be filed within 6 years.

What can restart the clock

No. Once the 6 years for a consumer debt have run out, a payment, a bankruptcy discharge, or an oral or written promise to pay does not bring the time limit back.

Law: Minn. Stat. 541.053; Minn. Stat. 541.05, subd. 1(1)

A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.

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Can they sue me or report it in Minnesota?

Credit reports

Full ban

No one collecting a medical debt may report it to a credit bureau, and a credit bureau may not include information it knows or should know is about medical debt in a credit report.

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Waiting rules

A hospital may not send your bill to collections (in-house or outside), offer or change a payment plan, offer a loan or line of credit, or take a credit card payment over $500 until it has found you ineligible for charity care or denied your application, and it may not do any of these while your charity care application is pending. Before a hospital sends your account to an outside collection agency, a hospital employee must sign an affidavit that the hospital followed the screening rules, that all known insurers were properly billed, that you had a reasonable chance to apply for charity care if you might qualify, and that you were offered a reasonable payment plan if you said you could not pay in full and gave proof if asked. If you or someone else tells a provider or health plan your bill may contain an error, the provider must review it and may not bill you for those services until the review is done. A collector's first letter must give the Minnesota Attorney General's phone number and say: "You have the right to hire your own attorney to represent you in this matter."

Interest

Apart from court filing and service costs, anyone collecting a medical debt may not add interest, fees or other charges unless the agreement that created the debt or another law allows them.

Wage garnishment

To garnish your wages or bank account for a hospital bill, the hospital must serve with the summons and complaint an affidavit signed by a hospital employee certifying, among other things, that there is no reasonable basis to believe your wages or bank funds are exempt. Without it, the court must dismiss the case on your motion. For any debt, Minnesota's general limit is stricter than federal law: nothing can be taken if your weekly income is 40 times the minimum wage or less; above that, at most 10%, 15% or 25% of disposable earnings depending on income, and never more than the amount above 40 times the higher of the state or federal minimum wage.

Bank account

The hospital affidavit rule above also applies to garnishing your bank account for a hospital bill. A collector may not challenge your claim that money is exempt from garnishment or levy in a baseless or bad-faith way.

Lawsuit rules

A hospital that sues you over a hospital bill must serve an affidavit of expert review with the summons and complaint (that it followed the screening rules, you likely owe the debt, insurers were billed, you had a chance to apply for charity care, a reasonable payment plan was offered if you asked, and, for a default judgment, that there is no reason to think you already answered by calling or writing, could not answer because of age, disability or illness, or were not served). If it does not, the case must be dismissed with prejudice on your motion. A collector may not sue on a medical debt after the 6-year limit for consumer debt. If you win a medical debt lawsuit brought by a collecting party, the court must award your costs and reasonable attorney fees (a settlement does not count). A collector that breaks these rules can owe you actual damages plus up to $1,000 per violation.

Law: Minn. Stat. 144.587, subd. 4; Minn. Stat. 144.588; Minn. Stat. 62J.808; Minn. Stat. 332C.02; Minn. Stat. 332C.04; Minn. Stat. 332C.05; Minn. Stat. 571.922

Payment plans and interest in Minnesota

Minnesota law does not give you a general right to a payment plan. If you owe a provider money, it may make a reasonable payment plan a condition of giving you more medically necessary care. That plan must take into account what you told the provider about your ability to pay, and before you sign up the provider must tell you that if you cannot make a payment you should tell the provider and pay what you can afford. Before a hospital sues you or sends your account to an outside collection agency, it must certify that it offered you a reasonable payment plan if you said you could not pay in full at once and gave proof if asked.

Law: Minn. Stat. 62J.807; Minn. Stat. 144.588

Surprise bills and ambulance bills in Minnesota

State law

Minnesota consumer protections against balance billing and provider balance billing requirements

Law: Minn. Stat. 62Q.556; Minn. Stat. 62J.811; Minn. Stat. 62Q.556, 62J.811

Which plans it covers

Health plans regulated by Minnesota (insured plans and HMOs). Self-funded employer plans are covered only by the federal No Surprises Act.

What it adds

Minnesota law adopts the federal protections and adds one: if your in-network provider sends a specimen from your visit to an out-of-network lab, pathologist or testing facility, that lab may not balance bill you, and you pay only in-network cost sharing.

Ground ambulance

No state limit listed

Minnesota has no state limit on ground ambulance bills that we list here. The federal No Surprises Act generally does not cover ground ambulances either, so ask the ambulance company about financial assistance and a payment plan.

Law: Minn. Stat. 62Q.556, 62J.811

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Itemized bills and price estimates in Minnesota

If you tell a provider or your health plan that a bill may contain an error (for example wrong coding, a coverage mistake or wrong cost sharing), it must tell you within 30 days that it will review the bill, may not bill you for those services during the review, and within 30 days after finishing must explain in detail what it corrected or why it did not change the bill, including the coding guidelines and health record references it used.

Law: Minn. Stat. 62J.805, 62J.808

Price estimates

On request, a provider must give you a free good faith estimate within 10 business days after getting a complete request. If you have insurance, it shows the amount the provider has agreed to accept from your plan. If you have no coverage, it shows the average amount the provider accepts from private insurers and what you would be expected to pay. It must also list other fees, such as facility fees. Your health plan must also give an estimate of your costs with an in-network provider within 10 business days. Estimates are not binding. These rules do not apply to Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare services.

Law: Minn. Stat. 62J.81

Health coverage and Medicaid in Minnesota

Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid program); MinnesotaCare is Minnesota's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:

Apply: Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid program); MinnesotaCare · (651) 431-2670 or (800) 657-3739

Where to complain in Minnesota

• Hospital bills and financial assistance: Minnesota Attorney General's Office, Health Care · (651) 296-3353 or (800) 657-3787
  A hospital did not screen you for charity care, sent your bill to collections too early, charged an uninsured patient too much, or denied care because of medical debt.
• Debt collectors: Minnesota Attorney General's Office · (651) 296-3353 or (800) 657-3787
  A collector reported medical debt to a credit bureau, added unauthorized fees, or broke other collection rules.
• Health plan problems: Minnesota Department of Health, Managed Care Systems (HMO complaints and No Surprises Act provider complaints) · 651-201-5100 or 800-657-3916
  Problems with an HMO, or a surprise bill from a provider or facility.
• Health insurance: Minnesota Department of Commerce
  Problems with a health insurance policy regulated by the state.
• Hospital licensing: Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Health Facility Complaints · 651-201-4200
  Complaints about care at a licensed hospital or other health care facility.

Free help in Minnesota

• LawHelpMN (legal aid finder)
• LawHelp.org
• No Surprises Help Desk (CMS) · 1-800-985-3059

Good to know in Minnesota

• A spouse is not liable to a creditor for the other spouse's debts, including medical bills (since October 1, 2024; a court can still divide debts in a divorce).

  Law: Minn. Stat. 519.05

• Since October 1, 2024, the Minnesota Attorney General can enforce the medical debt collection rules, and a collector that breaks them is strictly liable to you for damages.

  Law: Minn. Stat. 332C.05

• A hospital that refers your account to an outside collector without the required affidavit can be fined by the Department of Health.

  Law: Minn. Stat. 144.588, subd. 3

Changes in 2024–2026

November 1, 2023: hospital charity care screening, the affidavit of expert review before collections or lawsuits, and the charge limit for uninsured patients took effect for care on or after that date. October 1, 2024: the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act banned medical debt credit reporting, barred denial of care for medical debt, required posted collection policies and billing-error reviews, added collection rules for medical debt and ended automatic spousal liability for medical bills.

Law: Laws 2023, ch. 70, art. 4, secs. 40-42; Minn. Stat. 144.587-144.589; Laws 2024, ch. 114, art. 3; Minn. Stat. 62J.805-62J.808, ch. 332C; Minn. Stat. 519.05

Questions about medical bills in Minnesota

More help

• A collector is calling about this bill (Debt Collector Map)
• Sued over a bill (Debt Suit Map)
• Overwhelming debt (Bankruptcy Help Map)
• Medical bills after an accident (Accident Claim Map)
• Other legal problems (RobinClaim)

Nearby states

Sources