Expiring enhanced premium tax credits could result in thousands of Minnesotans paying more per year for their health coverage.
By Jeremy Olson and
Christopher Snowbeck
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 23, 2025 at 10:41PM
Gov. Tim Walz gathered DFL lawmakers, cabinet members and Minnesotans affected by high health insurance costs to discuss how the loss of enhanced federal tax credits could cause premiums to rise dramatically. (Jeremy Olson/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Those “individual market” health plans cover about 186,000 Minnesotans, including farmers and workers at small businesses that don’t offer health coverage.
About 90,000 of them will lose some support for their monthly premiums and see costs rise if the enhanced tax credits go away, according to MNsure. That includes about 19,000 people who will lose all financial assistance.
Premiums would have been even higher next year if a bipartisan group of state lawmakers had not strengthened a mechanism called “reinsurance” to financially protect the insurance market, said Grace Arnold, state commerce commissioner.
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However, Arnold said, “Minnesota shouldn’t have to cover for a broken federal government” and reinsurance won’t prevent premium increases that force some Minnesotans to “choose between paying for health insurance or covering essentials like groceries, rent or child care.”
Minnesota farmer Cindy VanDerPol said she went uninsured last year and saved money to afford medications and check-ups following her breast cancer treatments. Her family afforded subsidized health insurance this year, but she said they hoped not to use it, considering its high deductible.
“We’re still praying I don’t get sick again,” said VanDerPol, who owns the Pastures A Plenty farm in Kerkhoven, Minn. “It’s a huge source of stress and I know I’m not alone in this.”
about the writers
Jeremy Olson
Reporter
Jeremy Olson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering health care for the Star Tribune. Trained in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, Olson has covered politics, social services, and family issues.
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Christopher Snowbeck
Reporter
Christopher Snowbeck covers health insurers, including Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, and the business of running hospitals and clinics.
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