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Lawmakers Have No Plans To Address MNsure Costs

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As of Sunday, leadership in the Minnesota House and Senate have no scheduled plans to discuss the rising health care premiums set to affect thousands of Minnesotans.

This comes after both Republicans and Democrats called for a special session.

On Friday, Governor Mark Dayton welcomed the possibility of bringing legislators back to work if both sides can agree to a solution to offset the costs by Nov. 1, which is the first day of enrollment for the 2017 health care plans.

Like so many Minnesotans, Monica Klama is preparing for open enrollment on the MNsure marketplace.

"It's a constant part of conversation now," said Monica Klama of Maplewood.

Before she even price compares, she and her husband are staring down a difficult financial reality.

"Our current premiums are 20 percent of our income. If they go up to 60 percent, we're looking at 35 percent of our income. That's unreasonable and we can't afford that," Klama said.

Monica is among the 120,000 people on the private insurance market who don't qualify for federal assistance because of income levels. Premiums could jump as much as 60 percent, which would increase her roughly $1,000 monthly payment to nearly $1,700.

"I don't know if we're being heard to be honest with you. This went on last year too and we remained compliant," she said.

Last week, the Klama's took action, sending a letter to Gov. Dayton explaining the financial burden.

On Friday, Gov. Dayton announced the possibility of an emergency special session to address the issue with hope to use $313 million slated for the reserve fund to offset premium costs.

"The reserve is intended for rainy days and right now it's pouring on some Minnesotans," Gov. Dayton said in a Friday news conference.

"We were happy to hear that. That was hope for us," Klama said.

While Monica is feeling hopeful, open enrollment is just eight days away, leaving her with an uncertain financial future.

"We're not able to sleep because this has been stressful on us," Klama said.

One of the reasons for the higher premiums is due in part to a vacuum effect caused when one of the largest insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, dropped individual insurance plans in the summer.

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