Best Health Insurance in Minnesota 2023

If you’re looking for the best health insurance in MN, visit the Health Insurance Marketplace, MN – mnsure.org to find and compare different insurance providers. Not sure what to look for in a health insurance company? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. 

Choosing from the multitude of health insurance options available in Minnesota can be an overwhelming process for many. To help make this process a little easier and to protect people from falling prey to a scam, the Affordable Care Act requires every state to have an online State Marketplace where individuals, families, and small businesses can learn about health insurance, find and compare different plans, and make a purchase.  

To help you find the best health insurance in MN, we’ve put together this brief guide on Minnesota health insurance, where we provide all the essential information to make a decision. To make the process even easier, we’re also going to list some of the best health insurance companies in MN and compare their plans. Remember to visit our best health insurance companies page to help you make that important decision.

Insurance Providers and Comparison of Plans

Go through our Minnesota health insurance companies list to learn what some of the top-ranking health insurance companies in MN have to offer: 

Blue Plus

Blue Plus is the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) affiliated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The company not only offers a range of health insurance in Minnesota but also partners with the state’s Department of Human Services for providing public health plans. 

These include MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance, which are programs for low-income individuals and families. Blue Plus’s MN health insurance plans for individuals and families are divided into the following categories:    

• Bronze $7,000 Plan
• HSA Bronze $7,000 Plan 
• Silver $3,200 Plan
• HSA Silver $4,200 Plan 
• Gold $1,100 Plan
• Gold $1,400 Plan 

For small employers, Blue Plan has a High-Value Network Plan that helps employers find the best products in the state at the best rates. These plans are offered in 4 metal levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Group Health (HealthPartners)

Group Health merged with MedCenters Health Plan in 1992 to form HealthPartners, the name the company is known with today.

HealthPartners offers both private and Medicare health insurance plans in Minnesota. The company also works with the state’s Department of Human Services to provide healthcare insurance to those enrolled in public health plans. The company offers a range of plans for family and individual health insurance in MN:

• Peak $3,000 Plus Silver
• Peak $3,000 HAS Silver
• Peak $6,900 HAS Bronze
• Peak $1,000 w/Copay Gold 
• Peak $6,250 Plus Bronze
• Peak $3,000 w/Copay P-S Silver

HealthPartners also offers a range of health insurance plans for small and large businesses. They include both self-insured and fully-insured options

HealthPartners’ MN Health Insurance Plans for Small Groups

• Open Access –Offers both self-insured and fully-insured funding options
• Perform – Self-insured
•  Perform SE – Fully-insured
• Achieve – Self-insured
• Achieve SE – Fully-insured
• SmartCare – Self-insured
• SmartCare SE – Fully-insured
• CentraChoice SE – Fully-insured

HealthPartners’ MN Health Insurance Plans for Large Groups

• Open Access – Offers both self-insured and fully-insured funding options

• Perform – Self-insured and fully-insured
• Achieve – Self-insured and fully-insured
• CentraChoice – Self-insured and fully-insured
• SmartCare – Self-insured and fully-insured
• Distinctions II – Self-insured and fully-insured
• Distinctions III – Self-insured and fully-insured
• Custom – Self-insured

HealthPartners also allows employers to add dental coverage in the plans they offer to their employees.

Medica

Medica offers the following Minnesota health insurance plans:

• Bronze Copay
• Bronze Copay (First 3)
• Bronze HSA
• Bronze Share Plus
• Silver Copay
• Silver Share
• Silver HSA
• Gold Copay
• Catastrophic 

UCare

The last option in our Minnesota health insurance companies list is UCare. Let’s take a look at what plans it offers:

• UCare Bronze
• UCare Bronze HSA
• UCare Silver
• UCare Silver HSA
• UCare Gold
• UCare Core [Catastrophic]

These are some of the best health insurance in Minnesota. Do compare their plans and evaluate them with regards to your needs to choose the best one for yourself.

Cheapest Health Insurance Plan in Minnesota

The state of Minnesota is divided into 9 regions with regards to insurance pricing, so the prices of health insurance plans vary across the state. However, overall, UCare Silver HSA is the cheapest health insurance in MN. It’s also the most widely available plan in the state, offered in 43% of the counties.

Cheapest Health Insurance in Minnesota by Metal Tier

To help you provide a better insight into MN health insurance and help you find cheap health insurance in MN that best suits your needs and budget, we have found out the cheapest options for each metal tier.

Metal Tier	Cheapest Plan	Deductible	Maximum Out-of-Pocket	Monthly Cost for a 40-Year-Old Individual
Bronze	UCare M Health Fairview Bronze HSA	$6,950	$6,950	$223
Silver	UCare M Health Fairview Silver HSA	$3,000	$6,800	$265
Gold	Blue Plus Metro MN Gold $1,400 Plan 455	$1,400	$7,200	$344

In light of the above figures, it can be said that UCare is the Minnesota health insurance company with the most affordable rates.

What Area in MN Has the Cheapest Health Insurance?

Health insurance in Minneapolis, St. Paul region is available at the lowest monthly Silver premium. A 40-year-old individual living in this region can get health coverage for as low as $154 per month.

Cheapest Health Insurance Plan in Minnesota by Cities 

• Saint Paul – Medica North Memorial Acclaim Catastrophic – Starting from $151
• Rochester – Medica Applause Catastrophic – from $263
• Duluth – Medica Applause Catastrophic – from $214
• Bloomington – Medica Ridgeview Distinct Catastrophic – from $156

Average Cost of MN Health Insurance 

What is the average cost of health insurance in Minnesota?

The average cost of a major medical health insurance plan for an individual in Minnesota is $208.9 per month.

It’s important to note that the exact price of a Minnesota health insurance plan depends on a range of factors, such as your gender, age, health, and the county you reside in. People who are in good health can get low-cost health insurance in MN; plans with premiums lower than the average health insurance cost in MN. Similarly, people with poor health and the elderly should expect to pay a higher monthly premium.

What is the average cost of health insurance by family size in Minnesota?

The cost of MN health insurance depends on the size of your family. The bigger your family is, the more monthly premium you will have to pay. Your medical care needs and annual household income also contribute to determining your average health insurance cost in MN.

To give you an idea, we have generated health insurance quotes, MN, for different sized families. Take a look to get an estimation of your monthly premium:

Family Size	Average Health Insurance Cost, MN Per Month
21-year old single woman	$167 to $363 (depending on the tier)
Married couple	$453
Family of four	$1,437

Minnesota Health Insurance Guide 

To make an informed decision regarding the best health insurance in Minnesota, know about the various types of health insurance offered in the state. Let’s discuss! 

Types of Health Insurance     

All the different types of health insurance policies available in Minnesota can be classified into two major categories – private and public. 

Private Health Insurance in Minnesota    

Private health insurance is offered through:   

Employers

Many employers provide health insurance to their workers. This can either be limited to the employee only or also covers their families. 

State Marketplace 

Minnesota health insurance exchange (MNsure) is an online state-specific platform that provides details of all the private insurance companies in the state. Under the Affordable Care Act, every state should have a marketplace. 

Who Buys Health Insurance from the Marketplace?

Those who are self-employed not provided health insurance from their employers, or only have limited employer coverage (for themselves only and not their families) generally buy health plans from private health insurance companies in MN through the state’s marketplace. 

Public Health Insurance in Minnesota 

Also known as government-assisted health insurance, public health insurance programs offer low-cost MN health insurance plans. In some cases, people can even get free health insurance in MN by the government. Minnesota care health insurance by the government is primarily delivered through two programs:

• Medicare –A federal MN health insurance program for people with certain disabilities or aged 65 years or older
• Medicaid –A state-run public health program for low-income individuals and families

Minnesota Medicare

Who Qualifies

An individual should meet one of the following conditions to qualify for the Minnesota Medicare program:

• US citizen or permanent legal resident (for at least 5 continuous years), aged 65 or above
• Under 65 years – with certain disabilities 
• Any age – with end-stage renal disease

Medicare Coverage 

Like in all other US states, Original Medicare in Minnesota includes:

• Part A – provides coverage for inpatient hospital, home health care, hospice care, and skilled nursing facility.
• Part B – offers coverage for almost all necessary medical services, such as physicians, outpatient hospital care, ambulance services, home health care, laboratory and x-ray, blood and medical supplies, and durable medical equipment.

Under the Medicare program, patients are also offered the following two optional plans:

• Part C – also called Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part C offers extensive healthcare coverage. Medicare Part C is offered by Medicare-approved private health insurance companies in MN. It includes both Part A and B benefits, along with some additional ones. In some cases, it also includes the coverage otherwise provided under Medicare Part D. 
• Part D – Includes coverage for prescription drugs. It is available to everyone who’s enrolled in Medicare. Medicare Part D is also offered by private companies. 

Besides the above, Minnesota residents are provided two additional options under Medicare:

• Medicare Cost Plan – offers the same coverage as Medicare Advantage but gives greater flexibility with regards to consulting non-network providers. It sometimes has the option of adding Part D coverage to your MN health insurance. Medicare Cost plan is popular among Minnesota seniors.
• Medicare Supplement Policy – also referred to as MedSupp or Medigap, this private health insurance covers out-of-pocket costs for the Original Medicare plan. 

Number of People Enrolled

As of September 2020, over a million Minnesotans were enrolled in Medicare. This makes over 18% of the state population.

Minnesota Medicaid

The state of Minnesota offers low-cost or free health insurance, MN (depending on eligibility) through the following two programs, managed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services:

• Medical Assistance (MA) – Targeted to people with low-income, this Medicaid program of Minnesota offers free health insurance, MN, for most services. Members need to pay small amounts, typically ranging between $1 and $3, in co-pay for some services. 

MinnesotaCare 

This program is not a part of Medicaid, but it provides healthcare insurance to low-income state residents who have access to any other affordable health insurance plan in Minnesota. Depending on their family size and annual income, some people may need to pay a monthly premium. Still, they are highly affordable. MinnesotaCare also includes small copays for some services.

Coverage for Children 

Blind children and children with disabilities under 21 years can get health coverage under Minnesota’s Medical Assistance (MA) program.

Children with disabilities can even qualify for the MA program even if their annual household income is higher than the standard Medicaid limit.

Tips to Save on MN Health Insurance 

Since Minnesota health insurance rates depend on multiple factors, you can find ways to lower your policy’s cost. Here are some effective ways to save money on health insurance in Minnesota:

Compare Multiple Options

Instead of buying health insurance from the first provider you come across take quotes from multiple MN health insurance companies and compare them to find the best health insurance in Minnesota.

Opt for a Higher Deductible 

You can reduce your monthly premium by choosing a higher deductible. 

Stay Healthy

The healthier you are, the lower your health insurance cost will be. So, if you do not want to pay a good amount of money every month for health insurance, take measures to be in good health. 

Have a healthy diet, work out at least twice a week, reduce alcohol intake, and stop smoking. Body Mass Index (BMI) and tobacco use are among the key factors that affect the cost of your health insurance in Minnesota. 

Conclusion

Whether you are looking for individual health insurance in Minnesota or one that provides coverage to your whole family, this guide will help you find the best health insurance in MN. Use the tips and guidelines discussed above to evaluate your options.