PreferredOne Customers Cautious About MNsure Enrollment
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Connie Grover has been in the bar-and-restaurant business for more than 30 years.
So she's accustomed to sudden change. But she was stunned to get a letter from PreferredOne saying her monthly insurance rates are going up 160 percent.
"I couldn't believe how high the rate went," Grover said. "I just couldn't believe it."
Grover is among thousands of PreferredOne customers who discovered their insurance carrier is pulling out of MNsure.
And her rates are going up from $389 a month to nearly $1,100.
"That's just ridiculous. I'll never be able to retire if I have to pay that much a month, ever," she said.
MNsure is asking PreferredOne customers to come back to the MNsure website and re-apply for coverage when open enrollment begins.
Many will still be able to get financial assistance from another insurance company that could reduce or cancel out their rate hikes.
"If they buy outside the exchange, or they received assistance last year or they are buying offsite this year, they will not be eligible for that financial assistance unless they come through MNsure to get that," said MNsure CEO Scott Leitz at a recent hearing.
Grover is willing to try, but she's wary. She got caught in the MNsure open-enrollment meltdown last year.
"We spent two months. Two months getting thrown offline, thrown offline, thrown offline," Grover said.
MNsure officials say the site is much better this time around, and Grover's going to try it because she says she doesn't have another option.
"I can't afford it, and if I could afford it, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous," she said.
MNsure officials tell WCCO it's important for PreferredOne customers like Grover to act. If they don't cancel their policies, they will automatically be renewed by PreferredOne at the higher rate.
They have until Dec. 15 to sign up for new insurance if they want to be covered by Jan. 1.
MNsure says the website is tested and ready to go. It is supposed to be cleaner, simpler and faster.
And there are 300 navigators to help people sign up, compared to 22 at this time last year.
