Protecting, maintaining and improving the health of all Minnesotans
May 21, 2015
Health Plan CEO
Address
Re: Data Request for Risk Adjustment Study
Dear Health Plan Executive,
As you know, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was directed by the legislature (Laws of
Minnesota 2013, Chapter 108, article 1, section 65) to study the feasibility and potential costs and
benefits of conducting state-based risk adjustment in Minnesota’s small group and individual health
insurance markets. In order to successfully conduct this work, the law directed MDH to collect necessary
additional data from relevant carriers.
To comply with data analysis requirements of the aforementioned state law, please submit the required
member-level enrollment information identified in the enclosures for the period of October 1, 2013 to
December 31, 2014 consistent with MDH instructions by July 30th, 2015. This request covers all policies
in force at your company and affiliated organizations for the Minnesota individual and small group
markets, including policies serving employer groups with 51 to 100 employees.
In preparing the final data request, we benefited from conversations with staff from your company and
other insurance carriers, and appreciate the time your teams have put in to thoughtfully evaluating this
project and helping us hone our data request. As a result of those conversations, we have:



Reduced our request, eliminating three elements that we learned would create substantial
reporting burden. The following elements are no longer being requested:
o A cost-sharing indicator for MinnesotaCare enrollees;
o A retroactive computation of actuarial values for the individual and small group market;
and
o Estimated metal levels for the group market serving employers with 51 to 100
employees.
Incorporated the recommendations from carriers to use the easier-to-obtain rating region
rather than ZIP code as the geographic identifier for the insurance policies and to provide a
cross-walk for estimating group size for the 51 to 100 employer market.
Agreed to make detailed data quality reports available to individual carriers, provide the
opportunity for feedback throughout the process, and provide an opportunity to review and
comment on results.
General Information: 651-201-5000 • Toll-free: 888-345-0823 • www.health.state.mn.us
An equal opportunity employer
Risk Adjustment Study Data Request
May 21, 2015
Page 2
Data collection under this request will be managed by Onpoint Health Data (Onpoint), a non-profit
organization that currently manages data intake and aggregation for the MN APCD under contract with
MDH. Onpoint will work closely with data submitters or health insurance carriers to ensure an efficient
and least-burdensome data submission process. Onpoint, in coordination with MDH and Milliman, will
be holding a webinar on June 4, 2015, at 10:30am, to answer technical questions from carriers regarding
the data request.
An additional public information session about our evaluation will be held tentatively in July, 2015. We
expect to share preliminary findings from this work in late Fall 2015 and publish results in late 2015.
As provided under Minnesota Statutes, Section 62U.04, data submitted under this request, when
integrated with the MN APCD, will be private data on individuals or nonpublic data, as defined by the
Minnesota Government Data Practices act (MN Statutes, Section 13.02). No health plan or company will
be identifiable from any analysis that we release based on these data.
If you have questions not addressed by the materials provided, please contact Stefan Gildemeister,
Director of the Health Economics Program at (651) 201-3554 or by email at
stefan.gildemeister@state.mn.us. Additional information about the risk adjustment study, along with
details for attending the data submission webinar and future related meetings, is located online:
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpsc/hep/riskadjustment.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Manny Munson-Regala
Assistant Commissioner
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
Enclosures
c.c.: Tim Vande Hey, Assistant Commissioner, Department of Commerce; Marie Zimmerman, Medicaid
Director, Department of Human Services;
General Information: 651-201-5000 • Toll-free: 888-345-0823
http://www.health.state.mn.us
An equal opportunity employer