Like the rest of the nation, Minnesota too has been caught in the frenzy of setting up the state health exchanges or marketplaces.
This is deemed to provide help to nearly 1.3 million people,
helping them choose the best health care enrollment. The health care exchange has been at the center of the Obama health care reforms. People across the state are eagerly awaiting how the new marketplace that is deemed to function like an Expedia or Travelocity will take shape and how it will help them choose the best group plan from a Shop Exchange or file their Medicare application.
It should be recalled that Minnesota is among the 17 states that are creating their own exchanges rather than choosing to default to the federal government exchanges. Rather than partnering with the federal government, Minnesota would be creating its own state exchange, complete with a website, regulatory authorities and probably a navigator program.
Minnesota is most likely to keep its date with October 2013 that is regarded as the month where states face their litmus test—for launching their state exchanges. If everything falls into place, people across Minnesota will be able to purchase their health insurance from state exchanges by January 2014 and will find increasing help with their health care enrollment as the website is most likely to feature tools like an insurance quote engine. This will help people of the state immediately calculate their premium liabilities and judge the suitability of different health plans.
For the state exchange to be created in Minnesota, some regulatory clarifications are pending where the bill needs to be passed by nearly 13 committees and across both houses before March 23. It is expected that the approvals will come through and most probably the state will have itself marketing the state exchanges across social media, TV, radio, etc. State authorities are confident that once the website is launched in October, the consumers will have access to a website that will use on the latest healthcare software systems, helping consumers choose insurance without having to spend time on comparisons or decoding different health plans.
It is very likely that helping authorities in the form of agents, brokers, advisers and navigators will be selected to help the people with typical issues such as getting the Medicare eligibility enrollment right. Minnesota state authorities also plan to employ many of the organizations that are involved in non-profit and outreach programs. This will be done to push the traditionally-uninsured populations towards health insurance coverage.
Like most of the other state exchanges, health insurance plans listed on the Minnesota state exchange will be divided across four cost-sharing tiers. These are bronze, silver, gold and platinum health insurance categories, each with different levels of deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses like co-payments.
Among the 1.3 million Minnesota citizens who are expected to get coverage via the creation of state exchange, nearly 700,000 are deemed to eligible for medical assistance and nearly 600,000 will qualify for private coverage. It should be remembered that along with the state of Minnesota, many of the insurers too are expected to launch their health insurance websites or private exchanges where different plans from the payers will be listed.
It has been estimated that the creation of state exchanges will help to provide coverage to more than nine percent Minnesotans who are without insurance. This might seem like a small percentage but it translates into nearly 500,000 uninsured individuals.
