(ABC 6 News) — The Minnesota Debt Fairness Act provisions took effect on Tuesday. The bill was passed in May and seeks to help Minnesotans struggling with debt.

The law contains numerous protections including stopping automatic transfer of medical debt to a patient’s spouse and prohibiting medical debt from being reported to credit bureaus.

Senator Liz Boldon authored the bill and believes it is a step in the right direction.

“We’re going to continue to work on that to shift from a system that is focused on profit to really one that is focused on care but until we get there, this will help Minnesotans with an issue that’s really impacting a lot of people,” Boldon said.