ST. PAUL – The Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that rates would increase for Minnesotans who obtain insurance via MNsure, Minnesota’s version of Obamacare.
Lowest-cost options will increase by more than 20 percent for some enrollees, reports show.
“This program is coming nowhere close to living up to promises Democrats made when they created MNsure,” said Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar. “They said MNsure would decrease premiums by an average of 30 percent, saving families an average of $500 a year. Instead, rates are rising and they even manipulated the math to create the image of a lower increase than what will actually take place.”
Hackbarth said MNsure proponents used the average of the average pricing change for the four remaining MNsure providers to come up with their rate-change percentage. The problem with that math, he said, is that there is a large difference in the number of enrollees from one provider to the next, skewing the percentage to a falsely lower amount. The real average increase, weighted by customer base, is closer to 12 percent statewide instead of the 4.5 percent MNsure advocates are touting, Hackbarth said.
Also, the company which carries roughly 60 percent of enrollees is withdrawing from MNsure for 2015, meaning those premiums will need to be factored in once those new prices are in place.
“It is insulting to Minnesotans that Democrats from Gov. Dayton himself all the way down would use deceptive math like this as they try to put lipstick MNsure,” Hackbarth said. “The program has bombed since Day 1 and, at some point, they are going to have to admit its failures so we can get serious about fixing its real problems. Just pretending things are better than they are is not going to help anybody.”
According to the Commonwealth Fund( http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Issue%20Brief/2011/Nov/State%20Trends/1561_Schoen_state_trends_premiums_deductibles_2003_2010.pdf) , individual market insurance premiums from 2003-2010 rose a total of 35 percent in Minnesota. In the first full year of Obamacare in Minnesota, the same rates rose 47 percent for Minnesotans according to the Manhattan Institute( http://www.manhattan-institute.org/knowyourrates/indexmb.htm) . One of the largest insurers remaining on MNsure is seeing a 17 percent average increase for 2015, meaning thousands of Minnesotans are going to see substantial increase in insurance costs.
-30-