MNSure adds preview feature for enrollees this year

Navigating health care exchanges in search of a health insurance plan at open enrollment time can be challenging.

That’s part of the frustration in states like Wisconsin, where money from the feds to pay for so-called navigator services has dwindled down to almost nothing.

Minnesota doesn’t have the same problem, running its own exchange called MNSure.

The state run exchange this year has added a preview feature (here)  for the nearly 500,000 enrollees.

Those looking for health insurance on the exchange can make comparisons and evaluate costs without having to commit to any plan, ahead of open enrollment, which begins on Nov. 1.

Individuals earning up to $48,560 a year, or a family of four earning up to $100,400 a year, could qualify for federal tax credits through MNSure.

A couple in their 40s living in La Crescent, Minn., making $60,000 a year could be eligible for $651 federal tax credits in the coming year and could find plans from $358 to $657 per year.

Add a child at home and those federal credits jump to over $1,000 per month. Nearly a half million in Minnesota enrolled in an insurance plan on MNSure last year.