Sen. Dornink: Democrats misguided health care policies driving another year of higher health insurance rates as the ACA fails to deliver on its promise

Senate Republicans sounded the alarm on another round of double-digit health insurance rate increases announced by the Department of Commerce, saying state Democrats raised costs and taxes, drained the Health Care Access Fund that was supposed to hold premiums down, and opposed one of the most successful tools to lower premiums through the reinsurance program.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce announced 2027 individual-market increases of roughly 10% to 13%, and small-group increases from about 10% to 21%. That follows 2026, when individual-market rates rose an average of about 22% and small-group rates rose about 14%.

“Minnesotans are paying more for health insurance, and they deserve to know why,” said Sen. Gene Dornink (R-Brownsdale). “For years, Minnesota Democrats have taken money out of the Health Care Access Fund and added new taxes and fees on health care. They also voted to end our state’s successful reinsurance program, which has delivered real results by reducing health insurance costs for Minnesota’s consumers. Families are already feeling the squeeze from $10 billion in new Democrat taxes, and higher insurance premiums only add to that burden. Minnesotans need leaders who are focused on making health care more affordable.”

Background information: 

In 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act passed, a Minnesota family on employer coverage paid $13,903 a year in premiums. By 2024 that figure was $23,565.

On MNsure, the average individual benchmark premium was $182 a month in 2014, the marketplace’s first year. In 2025 it was $363, according to KFF.

The Health Care Access Fund was created to pay for care and keep coverage within reach. Democrats have repeatedly moved that money into the general fund to backfill Medical Assistance. Those transfers total more than $1.4 billion:

  • 2023 budget: $488.5 million in fiscal years 2024-25 and $646.1 million in fiscal years 2026-27.
  • 2024 supplemental budget: $2.2 million in fiscal years 2024-25 and $1.7 million in fiscal years 2026-27.
  • 2025 budget: $138.9 million in fiscal years 2026-27 and $150.1 million in fiscal years 2028-29.

Senate Democrats added costs on top of the raids: 

  • In 2025 they enacted a tax on managed care organizations projected to raise $549.4 million over four years that is already working its way into premiums.
  • Democrats approved $30.5 million in higher health care facility and provider fees.
  • They expanded the 1.8% provider tax to capture prescription-drug gross revenue from wholesale distributors; a $54 million tax increase passed onto people who need life-saving medicine.
  • Senate Democrats also proposed an 11% increase in the sick tax, a change that would have cost Minnesotans $401.3 million over four years.
  • And they opened MinnesotaCare to undocumented immigrants at a cost of $4.5 million in fiscal years 2024-25 and nearly $100 million in fiscal years 2026-27.