Advocates for poor say MNsure’s 2-tier enrollment system is unfair
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state’s new online health insurance marketplace, MNsure, is banking on community groups and other grass-roots organizations to help people sign up for health plans.
MNsure will pay consumer assistants to help Minnesotans apply for and enroll in coverage. But MNsure has a two-tier payment system that advocates for low-income people call unfair.
MNsure is one of the new state-based marketplaces that are a cornerstone of the federal health care law. Because they are new, and tens of millions of Americans will use them to enroll in health insurance for the first time, the federal health care law requires states to help consumers understand and sign up for coverage.
MNsure will pay these consumer assistance partners $70 for each person enrolled in a commercial health plan. But for people whose income is so low that they cannot afford to pay for health insurance and must rely on Medicaid, the federally sponsored program for the poor, MNsure will pay just $25.
