Dear Neighbors,
This week, the Legislative Auditor released their report on MNsure saying that its “failures outweighed its achievements.” While many of the findings in the nonpartisan report were not surprising for House Republicans, whose numerous attempts to offer fixes for the broken exchange fell on deaf ears in the legislature, it was still very disappointing.
Some of the important findings in the report include technical failures, not living up to the expectations of insuring Minnesotans in a quick and accurate manner, and falling far below commercial plan enrollment goals.
First, of the Minnesotans surveyed, it was found that over half of the people who attempted to purchase health care through MNsure spent a minimum of four hours on the enrollment process. Instead of working quickly like a Travelocity or Expedia, signups sometimes required physical paperwork and talking over the phone with MNsure representatives. Even more startling, the Auditor found a third of the calls into the help center were simply abandoned. Customer service employees and MNsure navigators didn’t receive enough training and weren’t equipped to deal with the wide array of problems that plagued the exchange after being launched in 2013.
Furthermore, with commercial enrollment being 88 percent below revised projections, the report states that the exchange will have a difficult time funding itself going forward. The tax on insurance plans is already at the maximum 3.5 percent even though the Democrats who built the exchange in 2013 promised that tax wouldn’t be above 2.25 percent.
The technical problems were numerous after MNsure’s initial launch and still continue. This session, MNsure needs to stop being about politics. The legislature and Governor Dayton must come together to implement serious reforms and fixes to our Obamacare exchange in Minnesota. Taxpayers spent $200 million to build MNsure, and they deserve a system that works efficiently and effectively.
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If I can ever assist you or your family on a matter of state government, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you!
Have a great weekend!
Deb
**Encourage your neighbors and friends to sign up for my email updates at www.house.mn/01B