Minnesotans who had non-group coverage in 2013, prior to full ACA implementation, were one of the groups who would be most affected by the set of provisions enacted in 2014. This brief describes the coverage transitions of this specific group of people, their experience searching for health insurance, including their use of the resources made available by the newly implemented MNsure Marketplace, and their perceptions of financial protection in 2014. The data used are from the Minnesota Health Insurance Transition Study (MN-HITS), a 2014 longitudinal telephone survey that followed people who reported having non-group coverage in 2013. INTRODUCTION Minnesotans faced new options along with financial incentives to obtain health insurance coverage in January 2014, when the Affordable Care Act went into full effect. In particular, Minnesota's Medicaid program expanded its eligibility threshold to 205 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), and the state's health insurance Marketplace, MNsure, offered a new platform to explore available health plans. Tax credits to help subsidize the cost of premiums also became available for individuals with incomes between 139 and 400 percent FPG. In addition, there were a variety of insurance regulations put in place intended to make care more affordable (e.g. guaranteed issued, rating restrictions, risk adjustment). Beyond the uninsured, one major group expected to benefit from these new coverage options and market regulations were people who purchased insurance coverage in the non-group market. This brief explores the early impacts of the ACA on this group. The information presented in this brief comes from the Minnesota Health Insurance Transition Study (MN-HITS), a longitudinal study that followed Minnesotans who were aged 0--64 and had individual coverage or were uninsured in 2013. Specifically, this brief provides insights into the post-ACA health insurance status of people who had non-group coverage in 2013, the reasons behind these changes, familiarity and experiences with MNsure (and the health insurance market) and its enrollment resources, perceived financial protection, and understanding of basic health insurance terms. The MN-HITS relied on the 2013 Minnesota Health Access (MNHA) survey to identify people with non-group coverage and people who were enrolled in the state's high risk pool, the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association (MCHA). Respondents from the 2013 MNHA were then re-contacted in 2014 and were asked about their experiences related to health insurance in 2014, a year after they were initially contacted. For more information about the details of the MN-HITS, refer to the methods brief. Throughout the issue brief, the term "previously non-group insured" will be used to refer to this population.
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