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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Bud Nornes (R)

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Health care costs set to decrease on individual market

Tuesday, October 2, 2018
 

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 Fergus Falls area could save $4,704 on their premium costs over the next year.

“These substantial rate reductions show the decisions we made are now helping to deliver the affordable, accessible health insurance that has been lacking under MNsure,” said Rep. Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls. “People have been suffering from a broken system and soaring premiums, but this news brings optimism that we are getting Minnesota back on track. This should serve as incentive to use the positive achievements from 2017-18 as building blocks for the next biennium because more improvements are needed.”

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. 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 reforms, rates would have risen by 20 percent or more.

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