Three of Minnesota's biggest health plans in the market where individuals buy coverage are seeking premium increases for next year — though less than what they sought for 2022.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce on Friday released the rate proposals for the state's individual market, where about 160,000 people buy coverage.
For 2023, three large carriers in the market are seeking average increases of between 2 and 6%. A fourth large insurer has proposed lowering premiums by an average of 2%.
"I would consider those increases to be moderate," said Cynthia Cox, a researcher with the California-based Kaiser Family Foundation who follows the individual market.
The increases aren't yet final and look somewhat more palatable than the roughly 10% jumps that carriers were requesting a year ago. Even so, any premium increase could be harder for some consumers to absorb with federal subsidies for individual market coverage slated to shrink next year unless Congress intervenes.
The state's MNsure exchange, where people use federal tax credits to buy policies, estimates about 70,000 people in Minnesota next year will pay more for their coverage without the extension of current subsidies provided under the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
On Tuesday, the trade group for Minnesota's nonprofit health insurers credited a state-funded reinsurance program for helping control premium costs. "The modest increases in rates reflect a market that is stabilizing and incorporating medical cost increases," the Minnesota Council of Health Plans said in a statement.
Premium trends can vary significantly across the country, so Cox expects other states will see bigger jumps than the rates proposed in Minnesota.