Minnesota: 30K QHPs in 29 days; APTC subsidies triple over 2016

Minnesota's "first-come-first-serve" enrollment cap system caused a massive surge in early QHP selections...so much so that they kicked things off by signing people up at a pace twelve times faster than last year in the first few days.

That pace has slowed down considerably since then, but they're still well ahead of last year. In the first 17 days of OE3, MNsure was enrolling 404 people per day. In the first 27 days of OE4, MNsure has enrolled 29,783 people...or 1,103 per day:

With more than four weeks of open enrollment in the books, more than 57 percent of Minnesotans enrolling in a private health insurance plan through MNsure are qualifying for financial help available only through the state-based health insurance marketplace. The average tax credit amount going to MNsure customers will be more than three times higher in 2017 than it was in 2016.

Since the start of open enrollment, 29,783 Minnesotans have enrolled in health insurance coverage through MNsure, 5,885 in MinnesotaCare and 17,660 in Medical Assistance. In addition, 7,786 Minnesotans have enrolled in a qualified dental plan through MNsure.

Of the 57 percent of qualified health plan enrollees who are eligible for tax credits, the average monthly tax credit is approximately $637, a $427 increase over 2016. These tax credits act as immediate discounts on health insurance premiums, allowing Minnesotans to see an instant reduction in their monthly health insurance premium.

"Premiums are higher, but so are tax credits available through MNsure, so Minnesotans need to shop to see if they can find affordable health coverage," MNsure CEO Allison O'Toole said. "For many of our customers, we're seeing that the amount of their tax credit is significantly or completely offsetting the amount of their premium increase. MNsure urges all Minnesotans interested in purchasing health insurance through the state exchange to visit MNsure.org to explore available and tax credits and plans."

Obviously this isn't very helpful to the other 43% of enrollees who aren't receiving tax credits, nor those enrolling off of the exchange, but it's still important to keep in mind.

UPDATE 11/30/16: OK, MNsure just posted a more official enrollment update:

Below is an update to MNsure's 2017 open enrollment period. Within the first four weeks of open enrollment, more than 30,000 Minnesotans have enrolled in private health coverage. This benchmark was not reached until mid-December last year.

Online

• Since the start of open enrollment, there have been:
• 30,148 enrollments in private health coverage completed
• 6,566 MinnesotaCare eligibility determinations
• 20,297 Medical Assistance eligibility determinations
• 820,646 visits to MNsure.org
• 152,012 sessions or visits on the comparison shopping tool
• 15,454 page views on the Assisters page – demonstrating that Minnesotans are exploring those options
• 37,844 accounts created
• 61,508 applications completed

Assuming this is through yesterday, that's 1,040 per day, or 2.6x last year's rate.