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.
“This is bad enough to make you wonder how the people who built this disgraceful program can even sleep at night,” said Rep. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville. “They made big promises of easy access to affordable health insurance, but MNsure has been a complete failure in those most basic objectives. This latest round of rate hikes will cause people who can least afford it even more financial distress and wreak havoc on families all across Minnesota.”
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 sick 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.
“If this doesn’t cause MNsure defenders to finally acknowledge the system they built is broken and finally implement proposals that have been offered for increased efficiency and accountability, nothing will,” Howe said. “The added cost is even being felt by citizens at the property-tax level since counties have had to hire more workers to help with the data processing related to MNsure.”
Howe 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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