Healthcare costs are on the rise in Minnesota, a top issue for voters. How much more could you pay?

The high cost of healthcare is hitting Minnesotans hard, and the issue is top of mind for many voters just eight days before the midterm elections. 

But how much more could people pay? Premiums could increase by double digits for some.

For the nearly 400,000 in the state who collectively get coverage through the individual and small group markets on MNsure, Minnesota's marketplace through the Affordable Care Act, the increases range from nearly 10% to just over 20%.

"I'd love to be able to say there's one particular reason that is driving those increases, but it's really a combination of factors," said Julia Dreier, temporary commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which regulates the companies offering insurance through MNsure. "So it is the fact that Minnesotans are using more healthcare, and that the healthcare that they are buying, so those medical services, prescription drugs, the cost of that unit price has increased as well."

A Mercer survey found employers expect health benefits costs to jump by 8.2% next year, which is the highest in the last five years. That could mean consumers paying more out of pocket.  Dreier said the MNsure increases do not reflect the actual cost because of financial assistance through tax credits, which lower monthly premiums, so it's important to browse the plans available.

Still, healthcare doesn't come cheap, and nearly seven in 10 Americans said it is a top issue for them, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll.  

There were large increases last year, too, and special COVID-era tax credits to lower costs for some enrolled in ACA plans expired. MNsure did see a decrease in enrollment, Dreier said.

"Minnesotans are feeling squeezed in a lot of different ways, and this is one other way that they are getting squeezed," she said. "And so I think every time we see those sorts of economic pressures on people and those costs going up, families are making really tough decisions, and many of them are choosing to go without coverage."

What are candidates running for U.S. Senate plans for lowering health care costs?

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the DFL nominee for U.S. Senate, is backing a push from progressives to pass "Medicare for All" as an answer to the problem.

The proposal would overhaul the country's current healthcare system and shift to a single-payer model that expands on the current federal program for seniors. A bill already introduced in Congress contemplates a three-year transition.

"Medicare for all means every single person is covered, no matter your age, your income or where you work. Lose your job, and you get to keep your health care," Flanagan said at a news conference Monday. 

When asked what she would support in the meantime if lawmakers were successful in passing such a sweeping measure, Flanagan told reporters she would want to end the Medicaid reductions and policy changes under the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" that passed last summer and restore those enhanced tax credits to help lower the cost of Affordable Care Act premiums. 

Former sports broadcaster and GOP nominee Michele Tafoya did not respond to a request for an interview Monday. But in a candidate questionnaire from WCCO, she rejected Medicare for All, calling it "government takeover of health care," and she vowed to "stop corporate hospitals and Big Pharma from blatantly overcharging Americans."

Where both candidates may have found common ground: putting an end to prior authorization, which requires health insurance approval before patients receive care that doctors say they need. 

Tafoya in the candidate questionnaire said she would work to "stop huge insurers from abusing prior authorization to deny seniors' care."

Flanagan told reporters she wants to eliminate the practice altogether. 

"We see the majority of times that people appeal these prior authorizations, they go through, which tells us, right, what is this actually about? It's not actually about getting people care. It's about the bottom line and cost," she said.