ST. PAUL – House Republicans are sounding the alarm over a looming health insurance crisis following Friday’s news that final MNsure rates will rise 50 percent or more for 2017.
The latest rate increases are on top of hikes of up to 17 percent and 49 percent in the first two years of MNsure premium pricing adjustments. More than 75 percent of people who buy health insurance on their own do not receive any financial assistance from MNsure, undermining MNsure’s claims that tax credits will offset massive rate increases.
“These continued rate increases have become a rather frustrating issue for citizens,” said Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck. “People I talk with say they feel like they were sold a bill of goods by MNsure advocates who promised this program would bring easy access to affordable health insurance. The opposite has turned out to be true, where soaring costs are putting people’s financial well-being on the brink and one breakdown after another in the system have caused headaches.”
It also was announced Friday that the Minnesota Department of Commerce has approved enrollment caps that will limit Minnesotans’ access to federal financial assistance and ability to find health care coverage.
Enrollment caps limit the number of new enrollees for certain insurers who sell insurance on the individual market. Due to MNsure’s inability to accurately process applications in a timely manner, Minnesotans who attempt to enroll through MNsure could be left without coverage through no fault of their own. Those who enroll directly with an insurer typically receive confirmation of coverage immediately.
Earlier this year, Democrats proposed hiking the MNsure Tax by $40 million and raising health care costs by $1 billion through permanently restoring the medical provider tax. Meantime, House Republicans proposed legislation to reduce the MNsure Tax which would have saved families at least $22 million over the next three years. The measure passed the House during the 2016 session, but was vocally opposed by DFL legislators.
“We made progress last year in undoing the property liens that were being placed on people’s estates unbeknownst to them,” Anderson said. “But MNsure still is in need of significant reform and that should be a top priority in the 2017 session.”
Anderson and numerous fellow Republicans sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton demanding action on a law signed by him in 2015 requiring the Department of Commerce to seek a waiver that would allow Minnesotans to access tax credits off of the MNsure exchange.
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