Legislatures from Minnesota are attempting to recruit more insurers into MNsure, the state's insurance exchange, the Star Tribune reports.
Here's what you need to know:
1. The late call for insurers is seen as a "distress call" as competition continues to shrink over providers.
2. The exchanges open in Minnesota open in less than three months, and the rush to increase offerings "suggests significant concern about a lack of competition in the individual market, where there already were fears that premiums could spike."
3. Healthcare consulting firm Avalere published a report predicting that competition in exchanges would decline sharply this year.
4. Only 5 percent of Minnesotans use MNsure for their insurance needs.
5. When the exchange launched in 2014, five insurers sold products through it. PreferredOne dropped out in 2015 after it suffered unsustainable losses. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota stopped offering health plans through the exchanges after it had hiked the premiums of its clients. It will continue to offer HMO plans.
6. Several counties in rural Minnesota are left with only two insurers to chose from.
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