MNsure opens special enrollment period for Salvasen Health enrollees in Minnesota

MNsure has opened a special enrollment period for state residents who purchased coverage from Salvasen Health, a Texas company that the state Commerce Department says lacked a license to sell insurance in Minnesota.

About 550 people in the state purchased coverage from Salvasen Health and a related brand called Triada, according to MNsure, a government-run program where individuals buy health insurance.

The special enrollment period started March 7 and is scheduled to conclude April 29.

"The Minnesota Department of Commerce is notifying Minnesota residents that products offered through Salvasen Health and Triada are terminating as of March 31, 2022," the department said in a website notice.

"Salvasen Health is not licensed to sell health insurance in Minnesota. To obtain comprehensive coverage starting on April 1, 2022, consumers currently covered by a Salvasen or Triada Health product must enroll in a new plan."

Salvasen Health officials did not comment.

The Commerce Department says consumers have until March 31 to pick a plan for coverage starting April 1. For coverage beginning in May, consumers have until April 29 to pick a plan.

It's the second time since MNsure's launch in 2014 that it created a special enrollment opportunity for people with coverage that was questioned by state or federal regulators.

In 2019, MNsure opened a special enrollment period for an estimated 200 Minnesotans with medical discount plans through Simple Health Plans LLC, a company that the Federal Trade Commission alleged was deceiving consumers by suggesting its products amounted to comprehensive coverage.

"Our records indicate that three households enrolled during the Simple Health [special enrollment period]," MNsure said in a statement to the Star Tribune. The federal government "had estimated that there were approximately 200 eligible consumers in Minnesota, so uptake for that [special enrollment period] was very low."

Salvasen Health also produced conflict in Wisconsin, where insurance regulators in January issued an order prohibiting it from issuing new policies and renewing existing policies.

"Salvasen was issuing limited benefit health plans which did not provide minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act," Wisconsin insurance regulators said in a news release this week about a special enrollment period in that state. "Salvasen was also not licensed to conduct insurance business in Wisconsin."

Special enrollment periods for Salvasen customers also have been called in Massachusetts and Nevada.

The Commerce Department in Minnesota would not comment on whether it has received any complaints about the firm. Salvasen is terminating the policies in Minnesota, the state agency said.

"It's one of those really unfortunate situations where this was an insurance company who was not licensed here in Minnesota to sell insurance — offered products and people purchased them," Julia Dreier, the state's deputy insurance commissioner, said in an interview.

She added, "Our main focus right now is just making sure that anyone who has purchased one of these products through Salvasen and Triada is able to take advantage of the special enrollment period through MNsure."

In its statement, MNsure said it learned the federal Healthcare.gov exchange also intends to offer a special enrollment period for Salvasen enrollees. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that "nationwide about 15,000 people had purchased a Salvasen plan," MNsure said.