This week, Minnesotans began buying health insurance through MNsure.
MNsure – an important part of the Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare) – is our state’s new online marketplace where people can compare private insurance policies, pick the best plan for them, and receive financial help to buy it if they qualify. You will not use MNsure if you already have adequate health insurance through your employer or through Medicare. But if you need to buy private insurance for yourself, your family, or the employees of your small business – or want to see if you qualify for a public health care program – MNsure can help. Enrollment is open from October 1 through March—giving people plenty of time to learn about their options and choose.
It’s important to remember why we needed this new law.
When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, our nation was in a health care crisis. Fifty million Americans had no health insurance and millions more had inadequate coverage. Insurance companies could deny coverage to anyone – even children – because of pre-existing conditions. If you were lucky enough to get coverage, it could be cancelled if you cost the insurer too much. Two-thirds of bankrupt Americans were driven there by medical debt, even though many of them had insurance. Yet in 2009, the nation’s five largest for-profit insurers earned a combined profit of $12.2 billion.
President Obama wanted all Americans to have affordable health coverage regardless of income or pre-existing conditions. He believes, as I do, that, “in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick.” The Affordable Care Act preserves our system of employer-based and private insurance for some and public programs (including Medicare) for others, while ending some of the worst abuses of the private insurance market and bringing costs down by increasing competition between insurance companies.
President Obama’s opponents have spent much effort and millions of dollars to spread misinformation and undermine Obamacare.
The best example is the “death panels” some claimed to be in the law, which was a gross distortion of a proposal to pay doctors for time spent discussing end-of-life choices with patients. Because of the fear generated by the “death panels” campaign this common-sense proposal was not enacted.
Opponents now want to make you worry that your health information will not be secure at MNsure. This is another red herring. While privacy and security are always a concern, MNsure won’t even collect your health information because the only health information needed is your age and whether you smoke. (Of course, your insurance company will collect the health information it needs to pay claims, as insurers always have.)
This week, Republicans shut down the federal government and threaten to default on our national debts in order to stop the new law and deny health insurance to 48 million uninsured Americans. In Minnesota, some legislators have resorted to name calling (“Socialism!”) and the politics of division (“the inner cities are more valued and treated better than Greater Minnesota.”), in a last-ditch effort to discourage Minnesotans from using MNsure.
Obamacare attempts to patch up a fragmented and complicated health care system and, to be sure, the new law and its implementation are not perfect. MNsure policies in SE Minnesota are more expensive than in the metro area, but not because the metro area is “more valued.” Companies still set their own rates, which take into account the cost of medical care in different parts of the state. Fortunately, many people and small businesses who use MNsure will qualify for upfront tax credits to lower their costs.
At the heart of MNsure is a new technological platform that gives Minnesotans who choose to use it a safe, seamless, and more comprehensible insurance shopping and enrollment experience than they’ve ever had before. It was created with amazing speed, despite ideology-driven opposition and plenty of public scrutiny, and – like all new technology – will receive regular upgrades and patches as glitches are discovered. With a six month open enrollment period there is plenty of time to get the bugs worked out.
The Affordable Care Act will not solve all our problems in health care or even health insurance, but it is a huge step forward. I will keep working to improve our system so everyone has access to high quality, affordable health care.
Don’t let the fear mongers stop you from getting the health coverage you need and deserve. If you have a question about MNsure, please visit www.MNsure.org or call 1-855-3-MNSURE.