MNsure has mailed out only 29,000 of 47,000 tax forms it needs to

MNsure still hasn't sent required tax forms to thousands of people who bought private coverage through the health insurance exchange last year.

Officials had hoped all documents would be in the mail by March 15, but that's not going to happen, said Allison O'Toole, the MNsure chief executive, during a MNsure board meeting Wednesday in St. Paul.

So far, the exchange has mailed about 29,000 out of an estimated total of 47,000 forms. Taxpayers need the paperwork to reconcile government tax credits that discounted premium costs for 2015.

"We have a significant batch of forms that are in process as we speak," O'Toole told board members. But she added:

"We will not have 100 percent of the forms sent out before March 15."

The IRS says forms were due Feb. 1. After missing the deadline, MNsure has repeatedly pushed back its own projections for when all documents might be delivered. The exchange has had problems with a new automated process for creating the forms.

The deadline for filing taxes is April 18.

Board member Phil Norrgard expressed frustration with the delays, and asked whether MNsure was slow to jump to contingency plans.

"Where is the accountability," Norrgard asked, "when we get to this point where we just can't do what we said we were going to do, and when we know we have to?"

In other business Wednesday, the MNsure board adopted a new preliminary budget plan with lower enrollment projections for this year and next.

Officials said the reduction fits with a state report presented earlier this month showing the uninsured rate in Minnesota has dipped to about 4 percent. That means fewer potential customers.

"There's not as much room to run," said board member Tom Forsythe. "It is prudent to have this be the enrollment forecast going forward"

Now, the exchange expects that fewer than 71,000 people will have coverage through MNsure as of Dec. 31. The decline fits with a significant falloff at most exchanges between sign-up tallies and final enrollment numbers, since many people don't complete the process of buying coverage. In some cases, they drop it during the year.

Going forward, MNsure expects enrollment growth of 15,000 people in 2017, down from a previous growth projection of 30,000 people.

MNsure's fiscal year begins July 1, and the preliminary budget shows that revenue from a premium tax on private policies will be off slightly from previous projections. MNsure's budget plan, which is due to the Legislature later this month, is balanced with reduced spending.

Minnesota launched the MNsure exchange to implement the federal Affordable Care Act, which requires almost all Americans to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

Christopher Snowbeck • 612-673-4744