MNsure Still Facing Serious Challenges

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota's health insurance exchange is having a big problem with attracting small businesses.

MNsure was originally expected to cover 155,000 people in small-group plans by next year. That number was only 1,405 earlier this month.

Insurance agents who help small companies cover their employees say several factors are at play, including a computer system they say is slow and cumbersome and can't complete the full enrollment process online.

MNsure's chief operating officer, Katie Burns, says the exchange has a plan to grow small business enrollment. She says MNsure has had to focus its resources so far on people who use the exchange for non-group coverage.

A health policy researcher at the University of Chicago, Jon Gabel, says other states are struggling with similar issues.