ST. PAUL – For the third consecutive year, reforms enacted in 2017 have helped reduce or hold flat individual market health insurance rates after years of double-digit increases following the implementation of Obamacare in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce on Tuesday released final rates for the 2020 individual insurance market. The agency indicates all five of the carriers on the individual market are lowering premiums or effectively holding premiums flat for 2020, with average rates ranging between a .18-percent increase and a 20-percent decrease.
“High health insurance costs continue to place an immense burden on many people in our state and it is encouraging to see some stability and even relief on individual market rates,” said Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Acton Township. “The changes we implemented in 2017 continue producing strong results and have gained national recognition. At the same time, much work remains to get us where we really need to be in terms of affordability, accessibility and consumer choice in health care.”
According to a news release from MNsure, there will be 39 more health plan options in 2020, and every county will have at least two offerings in the individual market.
From 2014-2017, average rates increased by double digits every year, including up to 67 percent for 2017. Thanks to those reforms enacted in 2017, individual market rates for 2018 and 2019 remained flat or were reduced for most Minnesotans on the individual market.
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