Update on Obamacare Rollout

Many of you have asked me about how the problems with the federal health insurance exchange will impact us here in Minnesota. While news out of Washington has been very disappointing and frustrating, Minnesota's health exchange operation (MNsure) is also facing problems of its own.

Nationally, millions stand to lose their current health coverage because of monumental changes to the law enacted by President Obama. Here in Minnesota, Governor Dayton and Democrats in the legislature have “doubled-down” on the Affordable Care Act, building our own Obamacare exchange hub agency in St. Paul. Well over $150 million will be spent on the building and maintaining of this new website and agency.

MNsure opened October 1 and is meant to be self-sustaining through a tax charged on every health plan purchased in MNsure. Unfortunately, not many Minnesotans have been buying plans through MNsure. Plagued with privacy concerns and limited plan options in several regions of the state, the organizers of MNsure were not prepared for the site to go live on October 1.

It has been reported that as many as 1 in 20 Minnesotans (280,000) will be forced to give up policies they like, with doctors of their choosing, for policies that will be more expensive and involve services they do not want. Meanwhile, fewer than 2,000 people are in final process of enrolling for individual market coverage through MNsure. That means for every 1 MNsure private plan enrollee, about 140 Minnesotans are being forced off their current insurance plans.

President Obama presented a political fix last week, not a real solution. Governor Dayton and Democrats' implementation of Obamacare in Minnesota has been completely chaotic, resulting in higher costs, fewer choices and less privacy for consumers. These attempts to win back Americans only lead to more disarray in the market just six weeks before new coverage begins. The last thing hardworking Minnesotans need is more uncertainty created by Democrats.