As States Struggle To Contain Soaring Premiums, Some Looks To Minnesota’s Success With Reinsurance Pool
Reinsurance is geared toward helping insurance companies protect themselves when they are hit by an unexpectedly high claim, which helps lower premiums for consumers. But Minnesota's fix, while successful, is just temporary for now. Meanwhile, voters continue to rank health care as a top issue for the upcoming midterms.
Stateline:
To Curb Rising Health Insurance Costs, Some States Try 'Reinsurance Pools'
A couple of years ago, the health insurance exchange in Minnesota – MNsure – was in deep trouble. Health insurance premiums for individual policies had shot up by as much as 67 percent, among the steepest increases in the country. Insurers were abandoning the market, leaving 116,000 Minnesotans with scant choices. The Minnesota Legislature offered a solution: a $271 million, publicly funded reinsurance pool that would help health insurance companies pay the most expensive medical claims, thereby lowering overall insurance premiums. The hope was that backstopping the insurers would stabilize the market and halt the rocket-like rise in premiums. (Ollove, 4/9)
The Hill:
Poll: Voters Say Health Care Top Issue In Midterms
Voters rank health care as the top issue heading into this year’s midterm elections, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll released Friday. More registered voters picked health care as the top issue than any other topic when asked to pick their top two issues, the poll found. (Sullivan, 4/6)
And in other news —
The Star Tribune:
Positive Blue Cross Results Trigger Rebates To Consumers
After three years of losses in the state’s market where individuals buy health insurance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota made so much money last year that it has to give some back. The Eagan-based carrier, which is the state’s largest nonprofit health plan, disclosed last week that it expects to provide $30 million in consumer rebates as required by rules in the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Snowbeck, 4/7)
