Call to Action for Reinsurance!

The Legislative and Political Newsletter of the

MN Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Association

Robyn Rowen, J.D.

MIIAB Legislative Regulatory Counsel and Lobbyist

June 8, 2021

Below is a link to find your legislator as well as a sample email that you can use to contact your legislator and/or Governor Walz to encourage the continuation of the Heath Care Reinsurance program

LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Health Reinsurance

Minnesota’s health insurance reinsurance program is on the ropes, and we need your help! You may recall that the Minnesota Legislature passed reinsurance as part of the Minnesotan Premium Security Plan in 2017 to address spiking health care costs. The reinsurance program plays a critical role in stabilizing the individual insurance market and lowering premiums for the approximately 150,000 Minnesotans who get their insurance from the individual market. It does this by investing state and federal funds to help offset health plans’ high claims costs and the adverse selection that occurs in the individual market. And it works! According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the reinsurance program lowers premiums 20% on average and saves Minnesotans in the individual market millions of dollars each year.

Now, some legislators in the House along with Governor Walz are refusing to renew this plan. They are relying on the subsidies that were recently enacted by the federal government in the American Rescue Plan as the justification for ending the reinsurance program. But those subsidies will not help everyone who benefited from the reinsurance program, so some Minnesotans’ premiums may increase by 25% plus medical inflation in 2022. What is more, those subsidies will end in two years, resulting in another huge increase in health insurance premiums.

You can help by contacting your legislators and Governor Walz and letting them know how important the reinsurance program is to you and your clients and to urge them to extend the program. If your clients are interested in getting involved that would be great as well—we need as many people weighing in as possible to have a shot at saving the reinsurance program.

Thank you!

Dear [Senator, Representative and/or Governor Walz],

I am writing to ask you to preserve and extend Minnesota’s nation-leading reinsurance program, which has brought much needed stability to the individual health insurance market. The reinsurance program plays a critical role in stabilizing the individual insurance market and lowering premiums for the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who get their insurance from the individual market. The individual market is an important source of coverage for the self-employed and entrepreneurs. It’s also an increasingly important outlet and source of coverage for small employers and their employees because the federal government now permits employers to help their employees buy their own coverage.

And it works! According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the reinsurance program lowers premiums 20% on average and saves Minnesotans in the individual market millions of dollars each year.

The subsidies that were recently enacted by the federal government in the American Rescue Plan are not a substitute for Minnesota’s reinsurance program because those subsidies will not help everyone who benefits from the reinsurance program. Many working Minnesotans who do not qualify for the subsidies may experience premium increases of 25% plus medical inflation in 2022. What is more, those subsidies will end in two years resulting in another huge increase in health insurance premiums for Minnesotans.

Please support the continuation of reinsurance for 2022 and beyond,

Sincerely,

[Name and Address]