ST. PAUL – Minnesota families and individuals who buy insurance on their own could pay an average increase of around 60 percent more for the upcoming year, according to information released on Healthcare.Gov Thursday.
Premiums in the MNsure health insurance exchange have risen in each of the three years prices have been set, but the current hike is projected to be the largest once updated numbers are finalized in the coming weeks. Thursday’s preliminary rate increases are on top of increases of up to 17 percent and 49 percent in the past two years.
“The real concern with this trend is it calls into question MNsure’s structural sustainability,” said Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud. “The people enrolled in this program simply cannot continue to absorb these kinds of increases to their premiums.”
During the 2016 legislative session, Knoblach supported 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, but was vocally opposed by Democrat legislators and was not enacted.
“This issue should be a top priority for the Legislature during the 2017 session,” Knoblach said. “The focus needs to be on identifying solutions to spare Minnesotans from being further damaged by a program that has faltered from the start despite costing Minnesota taxpayers $400 million. MNsure has been unsuccessful in its core function of providing people with access to affordable health insurance and it appears the situation is only going to worsen unless reform is achieved.”
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