MNsure highlights newcomers in sign-up tally
Open enrollment via MNsure started
But last year's early rush stemmed from one-time factors that aren't at play this time around, said
"These numbers show steady growth and we're on track to be ahead of our enrollment projections for 2018," O'Toole said via e-mail. During a board meeting in
Uncertainty over the law's future is one reason why analysts expect enrollment will hold steady or decline across the country on health exchanges that were launched under the ACA. But O'Toole said Wednesday there was no indication from the numbers thus far that talk about eliminating the individual mandate was cutting demand for insurance in
MNsure is an option for the roughly 166,000 Minnesotans who buy individual health insurance. The market primarily serves people under age 65 who are self-employed or don't get coverage from their employer.
While just more than half of all individual policies are sold via MNsure, the remainder are purchased directly from insurance companies or through brokers. Open enrollment in this "off-exchange" market started
Since the launch for open enrollment on
The comparable figure last year was roughly 24,000, but that was a very different open enrollment period, O'Toole said. Consumers were encouraged to quickly purchase coverage before health plans hit enrollment caps, and many were shopping fast because their coverage was being dropped by
Neither factor is at play during the current open enrollment period, which features relatively steady premiums and few big changes in the products being offered by health plans. Whereas open enrollment last year started with a website outage plus allegations that "robocallers" were jamming the MNsure call center, this year's sign-up period got off to a quiet start.
Overall, MNsure said about 91,000 have enrolled in coverage for 2018, with the vast majority coming from automatic renewals that in previous years weren't complete until late December. People who have been automatically renewed in coverage can still opt for a different health plan, or opt out of MNsure entirely.
MNsure's budget currently projects a peak of about 97,400 people will be buying coverage next year -- about 4 percent higher than this year's peak for "effectuated enrollment" of about 94,000 people buying individual coverage through the exchange in March.
The budget assumes about 10,000 new members will come to the exchange for 2018. The numbers released Wednesday suggest MNsure is already half way to reaching the projection for new people signing up. Open enrollment lasts through
"We're definitely seeing the signs of a stabilizing market," O'Toole said. "It's not as front-loaded this year ... but we're seeing really good activity."
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
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