ST. PAUL – For the second consecutive year, legislative reforms have proven to help reduce or hold flat individual market health insurance rates after years of double-digit increases following the implementation of Obamacare in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce released final rates for the 2019 individual insurance market on Tuesday. 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, reports show a family of four in the House District 2B area could save $4,407 on their premium costs over the next year.
“This is a step in the right direction and it shows the reform we enacted over the last two years is producing results,” said Rep. Steve Green, R-Fosston. “Minnesota was a national leader in health care before Obamacare was launched in our state, but the changes we’ve made are allowing us to get back some of what was lost. Our work by no means is finished on this subject, but it is nice to see some positive news on premium costs. It’s quite a turnaround to go from double-digit increases to double-digit decreases in just two years and I am proud of our progress.”
The individual market serves Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own, not through an employer or the government.
From 2014-2017, average rates increased by double digits every year, including up to 67 percent for 2017. Due 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 reforms, rates would have risen by 20 percent or more.
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