Nationally Recognized MN Premium Security Plan Reverses Double-Digit Premium Hikes
Eden Prairie, MN— On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce released final rates for the 2019 individual insurance market. For the second consecutive year, a number of reforms championed by Rep. Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, have proven to help reduce or hold flat individual market health insurance rates after years of double-digit increases following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Minnesota.
All five of the carriers on the individual market are lowering premiums for 2019, with average rates dropping between 7.4 percent and 27.7 percent. For example, in Eden Prairie a family of four could save $1,980 and a 61-year-old could save $4,296 next year as a result of these Republican-led reforms compared to two years ago. The individual market serves Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own, not through an employer or the government.
“One of the top issues I heard about again and again from constituents was that skyrocketing health care costs were hurting families and individuals in Eden Prairie,” said Rep. Loon. “That’s why I supported comprehensive, meaningful reforms to lower costs, protect patient access to life-saving care, increase choice on the individual market, and ensure health care is more accessible and affordable for all Minnesotans. What we’re seeing as a result of those reforms is a second year with lower premium rates, and that’s great news.”
From 2014-2017, average rates increased by double digits every year, including up to 67 percent for 2017. Thanks to reforms enacted in 2017, individual market rates for 2018 remained flat or were reduced for most Minnesotans on the individual market. The Minnesota Department of Commerce confirmed last year and this year that without these reforms, rates would have risen by 20 percent or more.