Fewer Minnesotans buy individual health insurance, but more use MNsure and get help paying

Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN)

Feb. 10--Minnesota's individual health insurance market isn't in the clear yet.

The state got some mixed news Thursday about the just-ended 2017 open enrollment. On the plus side, more people than ever signed up for health insurance through the state-run exchange, MNsure. On the other hand, overall enrollment on the individual insurance market declined.

"It looks like MNsure's getting a bigger piece of a smaller pie," said Jim Schowalter, president of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.

Overall 114,465 Minnesotans signed up for individual insurance through MNsure.

That's good news for many Minnesotans, since plans bought through MNsure are eligible for significant federal tax credits that this year average $621 per month. Around 17,500 more Minnesotans qualify for federal tax credits this year than last year.

"Altogether, Minnesotans are poised to save $372 million in tax credits," said Allison O'Toole, MNsure's CEO. "That is real money for Minnesotans."

But even as MNsure smashed its enrollment record, the overall individual market appears to have shrunk. Minnesotans can buy individual health insurance through MNsure or directly from a carrier. There's a MNsure-like exchange in every state, and MNsure has had among the lowest market shares in the nation.

The Council of Health Plans said Thursday that falls in enrollment through carriers offset the rise in MNsure enrollments, though final data wasn't yet available midday Thursday.

That could be bad news for health insurers, who raised their premiums this year by more than 50 percent after suffering big losses in 2016.

"I'm very concerned that fewer people will be buying insurance on their own than they did last year," Schowalter said. "The people who didn't buy insurance are probably the people who have the lowest medical costs, lowest medical bills, and means that fewer people will be helping pay for the really expensive care."

Minnesota's policymakers are trying to grapple with this problem. In January, they passed a bill setting aside $310 million to provide 25 percent premium discounts to Minnesotans who aren't eligible for federal tax credits. Around 41,000 of MNsure's enrollees qualify for these tax credits, an average assistance of $130 per month. Everyone who bought insurance directly from an insurance carrier also qualifies for this state-funded assistance, though it's not yet clear how many people fall into this category.

Lawmakers are also exploring plans to deal with the problem Schowalter mentioned, of too many sick people and not enough healthy people on the individual market. One option moving forward is called "reinsurance" and would see the state subsidize some of the costs of the sickest patients to try to lower cost pressures on the market as a whole.

WORTH KNOWING

* The numbers announced Thursday reflect people who've signed up for insurance, not those who've actually paid. Final enrollment numbers released in one to two months will be lower than what was announced this week.

* Around 1,500 people signed up for insurance during the first week of February -- an extra week of enrollment beyond the normal Jan. 31 deadline.

* Of the 114,000 total MNsure enrollees, 47 percent were new to the exchange, a figure O'Toole predicted would lead the nation.

* MNsure's call center received around 6,000 phone calls on Wednesday, the final day of enrollment.

* Some Minnesotans can still sign up for plans. A special enrollment period runs through the end of the month for anyone whose plan was involuntarily terminated -- primarily the 103,000 Minnesotans who had Blue Cross Blue Shield plans before that carrier dropped out of the market.

* State officials urged Minnesotans to sign up early, and Minnesotans did. Only around 15,000 of the 114,000 total enrollees signed up in the final month of enrollment.

___

Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.