MNsure Prepares For Last Minute Rush Before Enrollment Period Ends

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – MNsure is making a final push to sign up Minnesotans for health care before the enrollment deadline this Sunday.

This year, there's a tax penalty for people who don't get insurance under the new federal health care law.

Mnsure answered 240,000 calls since open enrollment began Nov. 15.

The average wait time is three minutes this year, compared with 60 last year.

"I think it is very fair to say that we are a much more mature organization, a much more stable organization," MNsure CEO Scott Leitz said. "We're going to continue to improve, but it is just night and day compared to what it was a year ago."

Leitz said they expect a last minute rush of people looking for coverage, but they are ready. The latest numbers show more than 140,000 Minnesotans have already signed up for medical coverage through MNsure.

MNsure reports it signed up 140,233 Minnesotans for health care, including 66,538 in medical assistance, 49,238 in private insurance and 24,457 in MinnesotaCare.

But website improvements don't mean that MNsure is healthy.

Republican critics say MNsure is not enrolling enough people to be financially independent.

And 90 percent of signups are in publicly subsidized programs, not private insurance.

"The middle-class Minnesotans who thought that this would be their Travelocity -- that they could go and they could shop for insurance and get it online -- have not found that experience," Rep. Matt Dean of the Health and Human Services Finance Committee said. "It's been a nightmare."

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton says MNsure critics want to kill the program, not fix it.

But the governor says that doesn't mean it can't be fixed to work better.

"Let's talk about in this federal law -- what's possible and permissible, and what we can make it do to make it better," he said.

Next week, the Minnesota Legislative Auditor releases the results of a yearlong investigation into the MNsure meltdown last year and how well it is operating now.

Leitz says over the three month period, there have been noticeable improvements compared to the last enrolment period when the system crashed, especially in customer service.

If you don't have health insurance, the tax penalty goes up this year. The minimum fine is $325 per person, and $162.50 per child. Next year, the penalty will go up even more.

MNsure customer service has extended its hours in preparation for the last minute rush. Phone lines will be open Friday night until 10 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, phone lines will be open until midnight.