Minnesota will give insurers up to $542 million for fiscal 2018 and 2019 to prop up Obamcare insurers amid questions over the stability of the law nationwide.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton told the Minnesota House speaker Monday that he has concerns about the funding but won’t veto the bill. The decision to prop up insurers comes as states are increasingly worried about the stability of the individual marketplace, which is for people who don’t get insurance through work and includes Obamacare’s exchanges.
Insurers have not made decisions on whether to participate in Obamacare in 2018, with some such as Anthem questioning whether to continue or pull back. Humana already said it would fully pull out of the marketplaces because of poor financial performance.
The failure of Republicans last month to mostly repeal and replace Obamacare last month has had an impact. Insurers have a June deadline to decide whether to offer plans on the individual market.
Dayton said he won’t sign the bill into law because he have several problems with it. However, he said he would not veto it and would let it become law after three days. In Minnesota, a bill becomes a law if the governor doesn’t act on it in the three days following approval by the state legislature.
Dayton was concerned about the source of the funding that would subsidize insurers on the individual market. He also wanted a buy-in option for participants in MinnesotaCare, a program that gives insurance to low-income state residents.
