Earlier this fall, Minnesotans welcomed the news that premiums in the Minnesota exchange, MNsure, would be some of the lowest in the nation. What they did not know is that those low rates would significantly impact their eligibility for federal subsidies to help pay the premiums, the Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTCs). Leading up to its launch earlier this fall, MNsure advertised that individual consumers with incomes between 200% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) would be eligible for APTCs. A calculator on the MNsure web-site also estimated monthly tax subsidies for individual applicants with incomes between 200% and 400% of the FPL.
Many individual applicants with incomes within that range have learned that is not necessarily true. While neither the federal government nor MNsure has published the exact adjusted APTC tables, we expect to be able to provide clients with some reasonable eligibility estimate. What we have learned is that the subsidy estimates in the MNsure calculator are not accurate. “I feel as though we were misled in order to get us to support Obamacare,” groused one of our frustrated clients.