Minnesota health insurers will raise rates for individual and small group plans in 2027, according to final figures released by the Minnesota Department of Commerce. About 203,000 people in the individual market face average increases ranging from 9.9% to 21.1%, while rates for roughly 184,000 people covered by small group plans will rise between 10.6% and 21.4%.
The rates apply to coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2027, with open enrollment starting Nov. 1, 2026. Insurers establish the rates they intend to charge, while the Department of Commerce reviews their filings to determine whether the increases are supported by evidence and comply with state and federal requirements.
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, a Democrat representing St. Paul, called the increases unsustainable and warned that higher premiums would push some Minnesotans to drop coverage. She argued that declining enrollment would also place more uncompensated-care costs on hospitals and clinics and increase pressure elsewhere in the healthcare system.
Murphy blamed policies pursued by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans for worsening affordability, saying they were moving the U.S. toward fewer insured people and higher costs for those who retain coverage.
Those comments represent Murphy’s political assessment of federal healthcare policy rather than findings issued by the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
She also cited separate pressure on public and private health coverage in Minnesota, saying 300,000 seniors were losing Medicare Advantage plans and another 140,000 residents would lose Medicaid coverage next year.
Murphy said people moving from those programs into the private market would face insurance options that are increasingly difficult to afford.
The Department of Commerce reported an average final individual-market rate increase of 17.4% for 2027. Minnesota’s Premium Security Plan, the state’s reinsurance program, reduced the increase from what insurers otherwise proposed, with the department saying the average would have been 57.9% without the program.
Final increases vary considerably by insurer. In the individual market, HealthPartners has the largest listed increase at 21.1%, while Quartz Health Plan MN is at 10%. Small group increases range from 10.6% at Blue Plus to 21.4% at UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company.
