In all, St. Paul will spend $1.1 million, funded by the American Rescue Plan, to erase $110 million of medical debt city wide. But it's stories like Myers that motivate St. Paul and state leaders to do more. "There's no reason why this should stop at St. Paul," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says the goal is to help 43,000 St. Paul residents who are struggling to pay for expenses to become medical debt-free within the year. These people are either considered to be low-income or have very high bills.

When St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced last year he would dedicate $1.1 million in federal COVID relief aid to knock out up to $110 million in medical debt citywide, some scoffed. Why spend American Rescue Plan Act dollars helping to eliminate hard-to-collect funds that hospitals could just write off themselves?