Availability of short-term health insurance in Minnesota

No. As of 2024, it appears there are no longer any insurers offering short-term health insurance in the state. The Minnesota Department of Commerce webpage about short-term health plans notes that there have not been any insurers offering short-term health plans in the state since August 2023.¹

Although there are no longer any short-term health plans for sale in Minnesota, they are allowed under state rules.

(Federal limits will change in 2024 under new Biden administration rules for short-term health plans. Short-term plans issued or sold on or after September 1, 2024 will be limited to total durations of no more than four months, including renewals.)

Short-term health insurance plans in Minnesota cannot last more than 185 days (six months) unless the insured is in the hospital on the day that the plan would have terminated and the insurer extends the coverage until the end of the hospital stay. This is clearly defined in Minnesota statute (62A.65, Subdivision 7).

Short-term plans are nonrenewable in Minnesota, but a person can buy additional short-term insurance as long as their total amount of time with short-term coverage doesn’t exceed 365 days out of any 555-day period (12 months out of 18 months), plus any days that a plan is extended to cover an insured who is in the hospital on the day the plan would have ended.

This includes plans from multiple insurance carriers, so a person cannot continue to purchase back-to-back short-term plans from different health insurers in order to maintain continuous coverage; a Minnesota resident can only have short-term health coverage for a total of 12 months out of any 18-month period.

HF138, which was considered by Minnesota lawmakers in 2018, would have redefined a short-term plan as being less than a year in duration and eliminated the 365 out of 555 days cap. The bill passed the House, but did not advance to a vote on the Senate floor.

Short-term plans continue to be governed by the state’s existing statute. The Minnesota Commerce Department published guidance for consumers in 2018 regarding short-term plans, clarifying that the state’s rules would remain in effect and take precedence over federal rules.

Short-term health plans in Minnesota cannot cover pre-existing conditions, but must also be available immediately without underwriting, and cannot use gender rating to determine premium costs.

According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, there were no insurers offering new short-term health insurance in Minnesota as of August 2023. Fixed indemnity policies were still available, but those are not the same thing as short-term coverage.

In late 2018, there were at least six health insurance companies offering short-term health plans in Minnesota. But by 2020, we could only find plans available from United Healthcare/Golden Rule. That continued to be the case as of early 2023, but those plans were no longer for sale by August 2023.

We discussed this with the Minnesota Commerce Department in 2020, and they said that although the state’s rules are the same as they were in 2018, several insurers had decided to stop offering short-term health plans because they weren’t selling as well as ACA-compliant plans.

Short-term health insurance was not available in Minnesota as of 2024.

If you’re in Minnesota and need health insurance, your first step should be to see whether you’re eligible to enroll in an ACA-compliant individual major medical plan through MNsure (the state-run health insurance exchange in Minnesota). ACA-compliant plans are available during open enrollment (November 1 through January 15 in Minnesota), and also during special enrollment periods triggered by qualifying life events.

The plans available through MNsure are purchased on a month-to-month basis, so you can enroll in a plan even if you only need coverage for a few months before another policy takes effect. And if your household income makes you eligible for a premium subsidy, your monthly premium costs will be much more affordable than they would otherwise be, and might even be lower than the cost of a short-term health plan.