ST. PAUL, Minn. — The city of St.
Paul is wiping out nearly $40 million in resident medical debt. City and state leaders, alongside medical debt relief partners, made the announcement Tuesday morning. "It's a win for everyone," St.
Paul Mayor Melvin Cater said. "And it's just the beginning." 32,000 people will receive a surprise notice in the mail from St.
Paul and Undue Medical informing them their medical debt is gone and paid for by the city they live in. Carter compares it to a move made five years ago in St. Paul public libraries, when the city eliminated $2.
5 million in library debt. "As a result immediate double digit growth in library use concentrated in our lowest income neighborhoods. We welcomed back 42,000 patrons to our libraries and saw 85,000 total items checked out on cards that had been previously blocked.
Libraries are a community resource, and rather than punishing our community, we decided to take care of them. The policy worked," Carter said. Similarly, Carter believes by eliminating medical debt, public health will greatly improve.
Lifelong Minnesotan, father of three, and veteran Walt Myers knows what lifting that weight feels like. "It's life changing," Myers said. "I don't know how else to describe it.
" Myers lost his wife, Sue, to breast cancer five years ago. He was left with a six-figure debt. With some help, every penny was forgiven.
"I was stunned, and I was incredibly relived," he said. In all, St. Paul will spend $1.
1 million, funded by the A.