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Here's good
news for the 162,000 Minnesotans who don't get their health insurance through
their employer but buy coverage instead via MNsure, Minnesota's state exchange:
They have nearly an extra month to shop for their 2019 plan.
MNsure
announced this summer that open enrollment would run through Jan. 13, almost a
full month later than the Dec. 15 cutoff for much of the rest of the nation on
the federal exchange. Open enrollment begins for everyone Nov. 1.
The decision
for extra time was made after MNsure responsibly checked in with stakeholders,
consumers, and others and made a thorough assessment of the market.
"Uniformly,
the message came back that there's still plenty of uncertainty," MNsure
Interim CEO Nate Clark said in a July 23 interview with News Tribune Editorial
Board members. "Making health care coverage decisions is still very
complex and difficult, and (people said they) just could use the extra time.
... Based on what we could see happening in the marketplace, it just made all
kinds of sense."
A lot is
happening in the marketplace.
There always
seems to be chatter and proposals in D.C. to repeal, replace, or alter the
nation's health care system. As imperfect as Obamacare may have been, its
disruption by politicians is hugely disrupting, each and every time, to
Americans craving consistency and predictability.
Also, Medicare
cost plans are going away, leaving more than 300,000 Minnesotans scrambling for
new coverage. They're working with professionals who work also work with MNsure
and suddenly could use some extra time.
Finally, new
private plans are being marketed directly to consumers, further complicating
options and decision-making. These plans feature attractive low costs but
aren't regulated like other health products and often don't cover as much.
They're what MNsure calls "skinny plans." With them, "It's more
important than ever to read the fine print so you know what you're getting
into," MNsure Senior Director of Public Affairs Jeremy Drucker said.
"All of
these things just create a nexus of potential confusion," said Clark,
"and with all of those things in the mix, we just wanted to make sure
consumers have all the time they needed to review their plan coverage options
and to choose what's best for them as well as for their families."
So an extra
month, Minnesotans.
And lower
rates, too, which is yet more good news for state-exchange users. Statewide,
rates are down 7 percent to 12 percent, and a lot of the credit for that can go
to "reinsurance," the decision of the 2016 Minnesota Legislature to
give about $500 million from state and federal sources to insurance companies
to help them offset covering their highest-cost patients. The move was
controversial but has proven hugely successful in stabilizing Minnesota's
insurance market, allowing rates to now come down. Reinsurance has been so
successful that other states are looking to mimic Minnesota's achievement.
MNsure's former director was even called to Washington, D.C., to testify about
the success.
Reinsurance
expires in 2019, however, and "it will be the responsibility of the new
governor and Legislature to work together to figure out what the plan forward
looks like," Clark said.
Let it look
more like the MNsure of today rather than how MNsure looked when it was first
created. Then, poor customer service, uneven costs, and a lack of leadership
were so frustrating. Now, MNsure officials can keep working to ensure the good
news only continues.
'Laudable strides'
"Minnesota
has made laudable strides in reducing the number of people without coverage. In
2011, 9.1 percent of Minnesotans were uninsured. That dropped to 4.3 percent in
2015, but regrettably has risen to 6.3 percent as congressional Republicans and
the Trump administration have undermined ACA mechanisms needed to hold down
premium prices."
— From a July 27 Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial
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