MNsure, insurers seeking more sign-ups
Open enrollment for individual plans, including those sold on the state's MNsure exchange, starts Wednesday.
When major reforms kicked in with the federal Affordable Care Act, about 300,000 state residents were covered by individual health plans -- a small slice of
The sign-up tally is important for the long-term stability of the market, which has been plagued since 2014 by big premium jumps and significant changes in the lineup of health plans being sold.
"I think there are some headwinds that will keep people from buying insurance," said
The individual market primarily serves people under age 65 who are self-employed or don't get health insurance from their employer or the government. The market has undergone major changes since 2014 with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which launched the MNsure exchange and brought federal tax credits for many who buy the coverage.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers pledged
The premium for the benchmark silver health plan available through MNsure for a 40-year-old in
While many counties across the country will see a dwindling roster of insurance companies selling individual coverage next year, the number of carriers in
Four of five carriers in the individual market will have enrollment caps, but regulators don't expect any insurers actually will hit the limits. And
"With relative rate stability and no large changes to carriers/service areas for 2018, we expect enrollment to stay pretty flat and hopefully improve slightly in 2018," said
Just more than half of all Minnesotans buying individual plans this year are doing so through MNsure, where state officials are projecting modest enrollment growth for 2018. People at certain income levels who buy through MNsure can tap federal tax credits that discount premium costs.
MNsure said it will have additional contact center agents and phone lines during open enrollment.
The start of last year's sign-up period was marred by alleged "robocallers" jamming the phone lines at the health exchange, which also experienced a temporary website outage. State officials have repeatedly pledged over the past year that they have taken steps to prevent a repeat of the problems.
MNsure is offering new features to users including callbacks for people who would rather not hold on the phone for assistance. There's also a new online feature for people to view their enrollment status.
The MNsure website and call center will open Wednesday at
Spending by MNsure on ads and consumer helpers known as "navigators" is holding steady this open enrollment period. The federal government, by contrast, is cutting spending on both types of outreach efforts.
"We've got the reins here at the local level, so we are serving Minnesotans in a different way than the federal government is right now," said
Outreach efforts are important when it comes to health insurance, because it's "a product that is sold and not bought," said
In an October report, S&P projected that enrollment nationwide through the ACA exchanges would be down by 7 percent to 13 percent compared to last year's open enrollment period. But analysts said they aren't overly concerned about the decline, since federal tax credits mean most consumers in the market likely will stick with it.
"The reason we don't think it's 'game over' is because, in every state there is kind of a floor to the market," Banerjee said. "You will never be in a situation where the market drops 50 percent in a single year, because there is that advance premium tax credit. That really is the key."
Insurance agents worry, however, about shoppers in
"For the people whose 25 percent subsidy disappears, they're not feeling the stability," said
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
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