When St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced last year that 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?

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.

Around 32,000 residents in St. Paul are expected to soon find a surprise notice in the mail announcing they've received medical debt relief from the city. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter on Tuesday announced the city has purchased and completely wiped out nearly $40 million in medical debt.

By using federal American Rescue Plan funds, the city paired with the nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, and M Health Fairview to wipe out $40 million in medical obligations. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says the plan is aimed at giving support to debt-strapped residents.