Employee Benefit News for School, City and County Employers

Head of MN insurance exchange steps down

Written by Valerie Ortiz | Dec 23, 2013 2:37:31 PM

After receiving criticism for Minnesota's bumpy roll out of its state-run healthcare exchange market, April Todd-Malmlov, the woman charged with leading the insurance portal, resigned, according to Fox News. After mounting pressures that stemmed from technical errors and back-end website issues caused many residents to delay purchasing a policy, the former director quit her role when she did not receive a vote of confidence from Gov. Mark Dayton.

In her place as interim CEO of the state's insurance benefits site MNsure is Scott Leitz, assistant commissioner for the Department of Health and Human Services, according to The Associated Press. 

"MNsure must do better," Leitz said. "If there are problems or mistakes, we will acknowledge and fix them."

The replacement was approved by Gov. Mark Dayton, who offered his praise of Leitz in a statement released by the insurance commission. 

"The recent problems some have experienced with MNsure are completely unacceptable," Dayton offered in the statement. "I am hopeful that this new leadership will lead to their swift resolution." 

Minnesota is a state that has not seen much success in rates of enrolling residents, with many insurance companies worried that applicants won't receive coverage by Jan. 1, Fox News reported.