STATE OF MINNESOTA Office of Governor Mark Dayton 116 Veterans Service Building • 20 West 12th Street • Saint Paul, MN 55155 July 22, 2014 Senator Tony Lourey Co-Chair MNsure Oversight Committee Room G-12, State Capitol Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Representative Joe Atkins Co-Chair MNsure Oversight Committee Room 583, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Senator Michelle Benson MNsure Oversight Committee Member Room 115, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Senator Jeff Hayden MNsure Oversight Committee Member Room 208, State Capitol Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Senator Sean Nienow MNsure Oversight Committee Room 105, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Senator Kathy Sheran MNsure Oversight Committee Room G-12, State Capitol Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Representative Joe Hoppe MNsure Oversight Committee Room 343, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Representative Tom Huntley MNsure Oversight Committee Room 585, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Representative Diane Loeffler MNsure Oversight Committee Room 503, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Representative Tara Mack MNsure Oversight Committee Room 345, State Office Building St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Dear Committee Members: Considerable interest has been expressed in the release date for 2015 health insurance rates. According to Minnesota Statutes section 60A.08, subd.15 (b) regarding the classification of insurance filings, "All forms, rates, and related information filed with the commissioner under section 62A.02 shall be nonpublic data until the filing becomes effective." Last year, the effective date was the first day of Open Enrollment, which this year falls on November 15 th. However, under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes chapter 13, nonpublic data can be released to the subject of the data at their request or with the subject's consent. Last year, the Minnesota Department of Commerce secured written consent from each of the participating health plans to waive the effective date to release summary rate information before the beginning of the Open Enrollment period. Voice: (651) 201-3400 or (800) 657-3717 Website: http://mn.gov/governor/ Fax: (651) 797-1850 MN Relay (800) 627-3529 An Equal Opportunity Employer Printed on recycled paper containing 15% post consumer material and state government printed MNsure Oversight Committee July 22, 2014 Page 2 I have asked Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman to make that request again this year. If all of the plans agree, the rate information will be made public around October 1, 2014 — 45 days before open enrollment begins. Last year, this same information was made public 25 days before Open Enrollment began. Making the rate information public before Open Enrollment begins would provide families and businesses additional time and information to help them make informed decisions regarding their health coverage options in 2015. However, there are other important steps, which must be completed before that release will be requested. Commissioner Rothman has just received the initially proposed rates from the health insurance plans. That receipt begins a formal review process between the Department and each of the plans, which in the past has taken several weeks. All of those reviews must be completed, and the final rates for 2015 approved, before the process can proceed further. After the final rates have been set, the Commerce Department compiles all of the relevant information. Then it must request and receive consent from the health plans to transmit that nonpublic data to MNsure in advance of the Open Enrollment period. After that transfer has been completed, Commerce must re-aggregate the data to fit the format used in last year's public release. Again, it is anticipated that all of these steps will take until about October 1S t to complete. However, I want to reiterate that this timetable would change, if unforeseen complications develop. In particular, the primary objective of the Commissioner of Commerce is, and should be, to review the proposed health insurance rates and act to ensure Minnesotans continue to benefit from the lowest possible rates with each of the plans. The time estimate for this stage of the process arises from last year's experience; however, there can be no guarantee that the same timetable will apply this year. cc: Representative Paul Thissen, Speaker of the House Senator Thomas Bakk, Senate Majority Leader Senator Katie Sieben, Assistant Majority Leader Representative Erin Murphy, House Majority Leader