Minnesota health insurance Marketplace guide

To be eligible to enroll in private health coverage through the Marketplace in Minnesota (MNsure), you must:

• Be a Minnesota resident
• Be either a United States citizen or national, or be lawfully present
• Not be incarcerated
• Not have Medicare coverage

While most Minnesota residents are eligible to enroll in individual/family coverage through MNsure, eligibility for financial assistance (premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions) is different. It depends on your income, and to qualify for financial assistance with your Marketplace plan you must also:

• Not be eligible to enroll in an affordable employer-sponsored health insurance plan. If your employer (or your spouse’s employer) offers coverage but you feel it’s too expensive, you can use our Employer Health Plan Affordability Calculator to see if you might qualify for premium subsidies in the Marketplace.
• Not be eligible for Medical Assistance (Minnesota Medicaid) or MinnesotaCare.
• Not be eligible for premium-free Medicare Part A.⁵
• If married, file a joint tax return with your spouse.⁶ (with very limited exceptions)⁷
• Not be able to be claimed by someone else as a tax dependent.⁶

In Minnesota, the open enrollment period for a 2026 ACA-compliant individual or family health plan ended on January 15, 2026. To enroll in 2026 coverage (or switch to a different plan) after January 15, you’ll need a qualifying life event.⁸

Starting in the fall of 2026 (for coverage effective in 2027), the open enrollment period will not be allowed to extend past December 31, under new federal rules that were finalized in 2025. And all plans selected during open enrollment will take effect January 1.

Enrollment in Medical Assistance (Medicaid) and MinnesotaCare (the state’s Basic Health Program) is available year-round.

To enroll in an ACA Marketplace plan in Minnesota, you can: 

• Visit MNsure – Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace. MNsure provides an online platform to shop, compare, and choose the best health plans. 
• Purchase individual and family health coverage through insurance agents or brokers, or with help from an MNsure Navigator.⁹

You can also call MNsure’s contact center by dialing 651-539-2099 (or 855-366-7873 if you’re outside the Twin Cities). The contact center operates from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

You may find affordable health insurance options in Minnesota by signing up through MNsure. 

Under the Affordable Care Act, there are income-based subsidies – a type of financial assistance – called Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTC). APTCs can help lower your premium payments and reduce your overall expenses. 

However, of the people who selected a plan through MNsure during the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage, just under 50% were eligible for APTC,¹⁰ down from 61% the year before.¹¹ The reduction in the number of people eligible for APTC was due to the expiration of federal subsidy enhancements at the end of 2025, which caused the return of the “subsidy cliff.“¹²

Note: The percentage of subsidy-eligible enrollees is lower in Minnesota than in most states, and the average APTC amount is also lower in Minnesota. But that’s because Minnesota has a Basic Health Program for people earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level. So while individuals with income under 200% of FPL qualify for large premium subsidies in other states, they instead qualify for premium-free or very low-cost Basic Health Program coverage in Minnesota.

Source: CMS.gov ¹

If your household income is no more than 250% of the federal poverty level, you may also qualify for cost-sharing reductions (CSR). These reductions can lower your deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. Combining APTCs and CSRs might make an ACA plan the most budget-friendly health insurance choice for you. 

You can also find inexpensive health insurance through Medicaid (called Medical Assistance in Minnesota). Check to see if you meet the criteria for Medicaid in Minnesota.

If your income is too high for Medical Assistance but not more than 200% of the poverty level, you may find that you’re eligible for MinnesotaCare. This is the state’s Basic Health Program, which we referenced above as a reason for MNsure’s smaller-than-average premium subsidies, and smaller percentage of subsidy-eligible enrollees.

Minnesota also has a reinsurance program, which helps to keep premiums lower than they would otherwise be for people whose income is too high to qualify for premium subsidies.¹³

But the reinsurance program’s waiver is currently only approved through 2027.¹⁴ Legislation under consideration in 2026 would direct the state to seek an extension for the reinsurance program,¹⁵

Lawmakers have warned that the expiration of the reinsurance program would drive premiums significantly higher.¹⁶ But it’s important to understand that reinsurance really only keeps premiums lower for the people who don’t qualify for a premium subsidy (in Minnesota, that’s about half of the Marketplace enrollees, plus anyone who buys individual market coverage outside of MNsure).

For those who do get subsidies, the subsidies are smaller with the reinsurance program in place (because the reinsurance program drives down the price of the benchmark plan on which subsidy amounts are based). Without the reinsurance program, those subsidies would be larger.

Six insurers offer exchange plans in Minnesota for 2026,¹⁷ 

• Blue Plus
• HealthPartners, Inc.
• Health Partners Insurance Company (new to MNsure for 2026)
• Medica
• UCare
• Quartz

Plan availability varies by area, but most Minnesotans can choose from at among at least three insurers’ plans for 2026.¹⁸

HealthPartners Insurance Company, which was new to MNsure for 2026, is affiliated with HealthPartners, Inc., which already offered MNsure plans in 2025. Some existing HealthPartners, Inc. enrollees were moved to plans offered by HealthPartners Insurance Company, unless they selected a different option during open enrollment.¹⁷ 

For 2026, the following average rate changes were approved for the insurers that offer individual/family coverage through MNsure,¹⁷ amounting to an overall average increase of about 22%,¹⁹ before subsidies are applied: 

Source: Minnesota Commerce Department¹⁷

The average rate increases are for full-price plans. However, well over half of the people who were enrolled in private plans through MNsure in 2025 were getting premium tax credits that helped to reduce their premium costs.²⁰

These subsidies are adjusted each year to match changes in the benchmark plan (the second-lowest-cost Silver plan) in each area. Unfortunately, the subsidy enhancements that had been in effect since 2021 expired at the end of 2025. This resulted in people having to pay a larger share of the premium themselves, and fewer people qualifying for subsidies.

In Minnesota, about half of MNsure enrollees were eligible for premium subsidies in 2025, versus about 61% in 2025. And the average after-subsidy premium (across all enrollees) in 2026 was $437/month, versus $307/month in 2025.²¹ 

Here are examples of the sort of premium increases that people experienced in Minneapolis for 2026:²²

• 40-year-old earning $40,000:
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2025 was $105/month
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2026 is $240/month
• 60-year-old earning $63,000:
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2025 was $345/month
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2026 is $722/month

For perspective, here’s an overview of how average full-price premiums have changed over time in Minnesota’s individual/family health insurance market:

• 2015: Average increase of 4.5%²³
• 2016: Average increase of 41.4%²⁴
• 2017: Average increase of 56.6%²⁵
• 2018: Average decrease of 5.3%²⁶
• 2019: Average decrease of 12.4%²⁷
• 2020: Average decrease of 1%²⁸
• 2021: Average increase of 2%²⁹
• 2022: Average increase of 9.5%³⁰
• 2023: Average increase of 1.5%³¹
• 2024: Average increase of about 4.5%³²
• 2025: Average increase of about 8.8%³³

During the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage, 139,251 people enrolled in private plans through MNsure.³⁴

This was down about 8% from the year before, when a record-high 151,512 people enrolled during the open enrollment period for 2025 coverage.²⁰ The drop in enrollment was primarily due to the expiration of the federal subsidy enhancements at the end of 2025.

In both cases, these numbers don’t include people enrolled in MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance. 

Source: 2014,³⁵ 2015,³⁶ 2016,³⁷ 2017,³⁸ 2018,³⁹ 2019,⁴⁰ 2020,⁴¹ 2021,⁴² 2022,⁴³ 2023,⁴⁴ 2024,⁴⁵ 2025⁴⁶ 2026¹

MNsure: Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace provides financial help for individual plan premiums exclusively to state residents. To reach MNsure for more information, dial (651) 539-2099 or (855) 366-7873 if outside the Twin Cities.

Minnesota Department of Human Services: The Minnesota Department of Human Services offers health care coverage programs and resources. You can call their customer service at 651-297-3862 or 800-657-3672 for assistance. 

Local tribal or county health care office: To receive assistance with health care programs, you can contact your local tribal or county health care office.

Minnesota State Health Insurance Assistance Program: You can find information and resources for Minnesota’s Medicare beneficiaries.

Medical Assistance: Minnesota’s Medical Assistance (Medicaid) program helps low-income individuals and families with medical coverage. This program has eligibility requirements, and more information is available on the Minnesota Department of Health website.