As many suffer from credit card debt and are forced into bill consolidation to help make ends meet, Americans are looking for as many ways to make money as possible, and in North Carolina, getting a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart is as easy as taking a trip to the doctor.

MSNBC reports that health workers in Forsyth County, North Carolina are offering a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart for residents who get tested for HIV and syphilis. The plan came about as the region has been suffering through an outbreak in STDs this year where cases of venereal diseases had tripled over 2008 numbers with still three months to go.

Of the 603 people tested during the recent campaign, MSNBC reports that about half say they were motivated because of the card. Evelyn Foust, director of the communicable diseases branch of the North Carolina Department of Public Health, told the news provider that money is definitely a factor for many of those who get tested.

“I was in Rocky Mount [N.C.] where we screened 500 people in one weekend when a woman came up to me and said, ‘you know, with their dollar menu, I can get five meals out of this,’” she told MSNBC.

North Carolina isn’t the only state paying people to better their health. Some Medicare patients in Illinois are receiving money on a prepaid card if they visit their primary physician.

Although plans in place through the Credit Card Act which passed through Congress earlier this year were aimed at making it harder for credit card companies to target students, one California college appears to be making it easier, which could lead to the need for credit card counseling for some students.

The Stanford Daily, the student newspaper for Stanford University, reports that students at the school are now able to make purchases at a number of places on campus with their ID card. Although the card only allows students to purchase up to $1,000, it eliminates the previous plan which worked as a debit card of sorts.

Now, students who make purchases on their ID card at campus eateries, the bookstore and a number of other locations, will see the charges add up on their university bill which must be paid at the end of each quarter.

Although many students appear to be in favor of the plan, not everyone is on board. Leslie Johnson, a freshman at the school, called it “dangerous.”

“More often than not, parents aren’t able to approve this spending and are sometimes paying for it,” she told the paper.

Many recent college graduates start their careers already in the hole because of debt. A recent study from the College Board found that grads at public institutions for the 2007-2008 school year had a median debt level of $17,700 while their private college counterparts had a median level of $22,375.

Two Democrats from the House of Representatives are planning to announce a proposal to move up the implementation of a new consumer protection law regarding credit cards by two months.

The proposal, from Representatives Barney Frank and Carolyn Maloney, would move up the application of the Credit Card Act of 2009 from February 1, 2010 to December 1, 2009. According to the lawmakers, the move is being proposed because of questionable tactics they feel were used by creditors before the new laws, which will restrict their traditional ways of moneymaking, went into effect.

“Since the signing of my bill by the President on May 22, too many credit card companies have used the period to raise rates and fees in a way that would be banned come February,” said Maloney, who was involved in the act’s creation, said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal. “I believe they’re taking advantage and using the time before the effective date badly. Changing the effective date to December 1 is both warranted and wise.”

Parts of the Credit Card Act have already been implemented, such as the requirement for creditors to notify customer 45 days in advance – as opposed to only 30 days previously – before changes are made to their contract. Among the new provisions that are currently set to go into effect in 2010 will be the elimination of creditors’ ability to offer free gifts on college campuses in exchange for opening lines of credit.

Representatives Maloney and Frank are planning on holding a press conference today to formally propose that the implementations be pushed forward.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is cracking down on companies making false promises about lowering interest and credit card rates in exchange for up-front fees paid by consumers.

Swanson announced Tuesday that the state had filed separate lawsuits against three companies posing as debt counseling services that had charged initial fees for services that were never rendered. The three companies singled out by the lawsuits were Priority Direct Marketing, which charged fees of up to $1,590; Clear Financial Solutions, which charged fees of up to $999; and Moneyworks LLC, which charged fees of up to $1,995.

According to the lawsuits, the fraudulent debt counseling services made unsolicited phone calls to residents throughout the state promising lower rates and savings or a full refund for their services. After getting consumers to bite on their claims and pay, the companies would provide a poorly run service, or no service at all, while not returning the refunds.

Additionally, Priority Direct Marketing also allegedly claimed falsely to be affiliated with the government’s federal economic stimulus plan.

“Many people are struggling to keep up with their bills in this tough economy, and a new cottage industry of debt assistance companies promises to help them. But these companies often do little or nothing to justify their high fees, leaving people in even worse shape,” said Attorney General Swanson.

In addition to the lawsuits, Swanson also issued a warning to consumers about debt assistance programs that could look to take advantage of the poor economic conditions to lure those in need of debt management into scam.

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