MNsure awards outreach grants to groups that serve minorities

The state's online health insurance marketplace is gearing up for the next open enrollment period by asking a diverse group of organizations to help Minnesotans find insurance.

MNsure officials on Tuesday announced $4.6 million in outreach grants to 28 organizations statewide. About a third of the money will go to organizations serving racial and ethnic communities who face language or other barriers to finding insurance.

MNsure CEO Scott Leitz said people are more likely to enroll if they have free help. Open enrollment for next year begins Nov. 15.

"We've enrolled over 300,000 Minnesotans in coverage and we know that the [uninsured] rate has been reduced by over 40 percent so we know progress has been made," Leitz said. "What we also know from work that the state health department has done and others is there still remain large disparities that remain in terms of access to health insurance coverage."

Leitz said organizations that receive MNsure grants have been asked to focus on hard-to-reach populations and address health disparities.

Last year, MNsure took fire for its initial round of outreach grants due to a lack of diversity among the recipients. Leitz said this year's outreach will be better coordinated and more comprehensive.

"Unlike last year where grant contracts were finalized 15 days after the start of open enrollment, this year's grantees have almost two months before open enrollment to begin to provide free help," he said. "It means this year one third of funds focused exclusively on outreach, education and enrollment for particular racial and ethnic communities because we know there's a real need there."