Skyrocketing premiums in the state's individual health insurance market have driven a record number of Minnesotans to enroll in private coverage through the MNsure exchange.
MNsure announced Monday that 103,578 people signed up for private health plans through the exchange thus far, a tally that exceeds by about 20 percent last year's open enrollment total of 85,390.
Surging enrollment through the exchange was expected since shoppers who buy via MNsure can tap federal tax credits that discount their out-of-pocket costs.
But the sign-up tally announced Monday marks the first time that MNsure enrollments have hit the six-figure mark.
"It's really a milestone for us," said Allison O'Toole, the MNsure chief executive. "It means Minnesotans are getting the benefits of shopping through MNsure."
Thus far, 62 percent of private health plan enrollees for 2017 are receiving tax credits year, O'Toole said. The average credit is $672 a month or $8,000 a year — roughly three times higher than the average subsidy last year.
Tax credits are available to subscribers at certain income levels.
The subsides insulate some shoppers from premiums that are jumping by an average of 50 percent or more. Regulators granted such large rate hikes so that health insurers wouldn't entirely abandon the state's individual market for 2017. Insurers have seen mounting losses in the market, which is undergoing fundamental changes under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).