MNSure Still Battling Glitches

Minnesota has been one of the states most supportive of the Affordable Care Act, but its health insurance exchange has been a disappointment in its first three months of operation.

Enrollment through MNSure was just under 68,000 by Dec. 31, according to data issued by the exchange. MNSure officials had projected that between 102,800 and 178,000 would obtain coverage through the exchange by the time the open enrollment period ends in March.

The exchange, one of 16 being run by individual states, has been bedeviled with technical issues, despite its leadership receiving some $110 million in federal funds for the exchange's construction and operation. At least 2,000 individuals have been stuck in a protracted process of trying to obtain coverage, and exchange officials said the website would be down for part of the weekend in an attempt to improve its functionality.

MNSure's executive director, April Todd-Malmov, resigned under pressure in mid-December. She has been replaced with an interim executive director while a national search has commenced for her replacement.

“The Board believes the organization is at a stage where it needs a CEO to manage both MNsure’s current challenges and position it for greater success in the future,” said MNsure Chairman Brian Beutner.

The exchange is not as bad a shape as Covered Oregon, which could not enroll anyone for the first several weeks of its operation. But officials there quickly recovered, and have since placed 36,000 on its commercial rolls – more than MNSure to date.

“MNsure must do better. If there are problems or mistakes, we will acknowledge them and fix them,” said acting CEO Scott Leitz, who was recruited from the state Department of Health Services to fill the interim position.

Preliminary data for the final weeks of December did show a dramatic growth in health plan enrollments. There were more than 14,000 enrollments in the final four days of the month. Enrollment in private plans grew to 25,860, while enrollments in MinnesotaCare, the state's Medicaid program, reached 15,997. Enrollment in the state's medical assistance program reached 25,948. Altogether, the number of accounts created by visitors to the exchange by Jan. 1 reached 113,443.

“This uptick in enrollments is an encouraging sign,” Leitz said. “Even amid all the challenges of the last few weeks, many thousands of Minnesotans are taking action to benefit from lower insurance premiums and better coverage terms. Our job in the weeks ahead will be to make it easier for more people to do the same.”