Daudt, Dayton To Meet As MNsure Open Enrollment Begins

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Gov.  Mark Dayton and House Speaker Kurt Daudt will meet Tuesday to talk about providing relief for those hardest hit by rising health care premiums.

The meeting comes as open enrollment for MNsure begins.

Open enrollment officially began at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.

While most Minnesotans get their insurance through their employer, about five percent have to buy individual policies. Of that five percent, an estimated 123,000 people do not qualify for tax breaks on their premiums.

With prices jumping by as much as 67 percent, there is pressure on elected officials to provide some form of relief. And, with all 201 members of the state legislature up for election next week, the pressure is enormous.

Both Republicans and Democrats said they want to come up with some relief for those hardest hit.

Dayton has proposed a 25 percent monthly rebate for people who make too much for a tax break.

Daudt and other Republicans question who would administer the rebate plan.

Another concern is four of the five MNsure insurance providers have limited the number of people they will enroll, which means thousands were expected to sign up when enrollment opened.