28,000 Minnesotans Sign Up for Insurance in First Three Weeks

According to the Associated Press, more than 28,000 residents have signed up for health coverage through Minnesota’s health insurance exchange.

MNsure got off to a rocky start this year with a widespread state government website outage and long wait times that state officials say may have been exacerbated by automated calls. Anxiety is high due to big premium increases and concern about access to insurance for 2017.

The exchange said Monday that 28,475 residents had signed up in the three weeks since open enrollment began Nov. 1. After call wait times stretched into hours for some callers, MNsure said there are currently no wait times.

Minnesota lawmakers are still debating how to offset the increasing premiums for those who don’t qualify for federal assistance.