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Minnesota’s individual health insurance marketplace, MNsure, saw record enrollments and the smoothest annual sign-up period since the agency’s troubled launch in 2013. MNsure announced Wednesday that more than 116,000 people purchased insurance through the state market created under the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. That’s slightly higher than last year, when 114,810 people bought plans, but it falls short of the 5 percent growth agency officials anticipated. (Magan, 1/17)

The uptick came at a time when the federal government website that serves as the health exchange for most states saw a 4 percent decline in sign-ups for 2018 coverage. (Snowbeck, 1/17)

MNsure CEO Allison O'Toole said the results show how far the agency has come since the website's bungled roll-out in 2013. "Five years into this business people are realizing the value and we are doing better and serving them better and our numbers are growing," she said. Although MNsure enrollment is up, the size of Minnesota's individual-market health insurance pool is down sharply over the past few years, fueling concerns about its future stability. (Zdechlik, 1/17)

The preliminary tally of Texans who signed up for 2018 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act was just shy of the previous year even though the enrollment period was cut nearly in half. About 1.1 million people in the Texas enrolled for plans as of Dec. 23. That is 100,00 fewer than the 1.2 million who had signed up for 2017 plans, although it does not include all Texans who live in the wide swath of the state affected by Hurricane Harvey and were given an extra two weeks to sign up beyond the Dec. 15 deadline. (Deam, 1/17)

Fewer people selected health insurance plans this year on Colorado’s Obamacare exchange, the first time open enrollment numbers have dropped year-over-year in the state and in keeping with a nationwide dip in people buying insurance on such exchanges. Colorado health care advocates said the decline may in part be due to recent decisions by the Trump administration to chip away at provisions of Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act. But the overall reason for the decline is unclear. Also unclear is whether there are now more people without health insurance in Colorado. (Ingold, 1/17)

Fewer Michigan residents are enrolling in health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, which loses its Obama-era penalty next year for individuals who fail to buy insurance. There were 293,940 Michigan sign-ups on the Healthcare.gov exchange for 2018 individual and family plans, down nearly 9% from last year, according to federal figures, which showed nationwide sign-ups down 5%. (Reindl, 1/17)