ST. PAUL – For the third consecutive year, reforms enacted in 2017 have helped 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 on Tuesday released final rates for the 2020 individual insurance market. The agency indicates all five of the carriers on the individual market are lowering premiums or effectively holding premiums flat for 2020, with average rates ranging between a .18-percent increase and a 20-percent decrease.
“The high cost of health insurance remains the No. 1 issue people in our district talk to me about,” said Rep. Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls. “This has been a major problem for a lot of families, so it is good news that we have been able to not only stop rates from soaring on the individual market but, in many cases, provide real reductions. While much more work remains on health care, it is a positive sign to see that decisions we made in 2017 continue to deliver greater affordability, improved choices and a more stable individual market. ”
According to a news release from MNsure, there will be 39 more health plan options in 2020, and every county will have at least two offerings in the individual market.
From 2014-2017, average rates increased by double digits every year, including up to 67 percent for 2017. Thanks to those reforms enacted in 2017, individual market rates for 2018 and 2019 remained flat or were reduced for most Minnesotans on the individual market.
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