EDINA, Minn— On Friday the Minnesota Department of Commerce released preliminary rates for the 2019 individual insurance market, revealing that for the second consecutive year, a number of critical reforms championed by Rep. Dario Anselmo, R-Edina, have helped reduce or hold flat individual market health insurance rates after years of double-digit increases following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Minnesota.
All five of the carriers on the individual market are projected to decrease premiums for 2019, with average preliminary rates dropping between 3 percent and 12.4 percent. The individual market serves Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own, not through an employer or the government.
“Many Edina families were hurt by years of double-digit premium increases, and why I advocated for meaningful reforms to help bring stability to our individual insurance market,” said Rep. Anselmo. “Today’s preliminary rates are great news for Minnesotans who purchase their own health insurance, as for the second year in a row, we’re seeing rates remain stable or actually going down. These reforms are working and show our state is heading in the right direction.”
From 2014-2017, average rates increased by double digits every year, including nearly 60 percent for 2017. Thanks to these 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 that without Republican reforms, rates would have risen by 20 percent or more.
Final rates for the 2019 individual market are expected to be released in October 2018.