Republican leaders in the Minnesota House and Senate questioned Gov. Mark Dayton Friday and his administration for claiming the average rate of increase for MNsure premiums will be 4.5 percent. Republican leaders criticized the methodology used to arrive at the figure because it excluded 60 percent of the current MNsure market and ignored the number of individual consumers impacted by each rate change, before calculating the average.

Department of Commerce officials, led by Governor Dayton’s Commissioner Mike Rothman, simply took the rate changes for the four plans remaining in MNsure and calculated a simple average, without weighting. The result is skewed because one of the rate increases represented 3 percent of the total enrollees, while another represented 57 percent.

“The 4.5 percent rate increase announced by Governor Dayton this week was calculated to mislead the people of Minnesota,” said Senate Republican Leader David Hann (Eden Prairie). “Consumers of MNsure’s health insurance exchange deserved straight talk from their Governor and instead they were purposely misled.”

“For the past year, Minnesota Democrats promised that the average family would save $500 per year and the average premium would drop by 30 percent thanks to MNsure. The reality is: many Minnesotans are paying more today because of Obamacare and the significant rate increases released this week reflect that fact,” added House Republican Leader Kurt Daudt (Crown).

“We can only assume the staff at the Department of Commerce under the direction of Commissioner Rothman did this on purpose – with the intent to deceive,” added Sen. Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake). “We have lost all confidence in his ability to lead the state’s consumer protection agency.”

To assist consumers in calculating likely changes to their MNsure rates, Republicans unveiled a new web-based tool. By selecting their county, metal level (bronze, silver, gold, platinum), and age (25, 40, 60), consumers can see for themselves what kind of increase they are likely to experience next year.