How to add Pat as your MNsure broker

You need a MNsure account to give a broker permission, but you don’t need one to talk to us. If you don’t have an account yet, create one at MNsure.org, or call and we’ll help you set it up.

MNsure moved to a new system on July 1, 2026. If you had a private plan through MNsure before then and haven’t signed in since, you may need to activate your new account first. Look for MNsure’s email or letter about activating or claiming your new MNsure account. MNsure’s September 2026 pre-renewal notice to enrolled households also explains how to claim it.

You can add Pat before you start an application, partway through one, or after you’ve enrolled.

You can look him up before you sign in, too: on MNsure.org, choose “Get Help”, then “Find an Assister”, “Help from a broker” and “Find Free Help”, and search the same way. To add him, sign in and follow the steps below.

These are MNsure’s steps, with what to type at each one. The last step is ours.

MNsure sends your request to Pat, and he accepts it from his side. A new “Your broker” option appears on your MNsure dashboard: click it to see Pat’s details and whether he has accepted yet.

Everyone goes under Pat’s name because he owns the agency. Pat or Spencer handles it from there; both are certified MNsure brokers.

Try another of the three ways in: his full name, Patrick Bernauer; the agency’s name, Bernauer Insurance Agency; or a location search on zip code 55044. A location search lists only brokers within the distance you pick from that zip code, so searching from your own zip code may not find him. A name search is the surer way.

If we still don’t appear, call us and we’ll go through the search with you on the phone. The request has to come from your account: a broker can’t add himself as your broker.

MNsure calls this giving a broker permission to act on your behalf. With it, Pat can work on your application with you, from starting it to submitting it, help you compare plans, apply any tax credit you qualify for, and enroll you. After you enroll, he can report changes for you, help you make sense of MNsure’s notices and take you through renewal.

He can see your application and the plan you pick. That’s the point: we check the application before it goes in, and when MNsure asks for something, we can see exactly what it’s asking for.

Adding Pat doesn’t give him your username or password: brokers sign in to their own secure MNsure portal. Never share your MNsure password with anyone, including us.

MNsure is clear that you’re still responsible for answering its notices and for paying your premium to the insurance company, if you have one. We’ll help you understand the notices and what they ask for.

Permission lets a broker pick a plan and enroll you, which is why MNsure suggests telling your broker if you want to see the plans first. You don’t need to ask us: we go through the plans with you, what each one costs and whether your doctors are in network, before anything is chosen.

Nothing. When you enroll in a plan, the insurance company pays us, not you. Federal rules require a plan to cost the same whether you buy it through MNsure, straight from the insurance company or through an agent, so adding Pat doesn’t change your premium.

MNsure requires any broker who charges a fee to tell you beforehand, and how much. We don’t charge one.

Some brokers can sell plans only from certain insurance companies, so a broker may not be able to sell every plan on MNsure. For 2027 coverage, we can enroll you in MNsure health plans from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, HealthPartners and Medica, and in all of MNsure’s dental plans. We tell you this when we first talk, too, and every plan on the marketplace is listed at MNsure.org.

You can remove a broker whenever you like: sign in, choose “Your broker” on your dashboard and click “End authorization”. From then on, that broker can’t see your information or act for you.

To move to Pat from another broker, MNsure’s instructions are to end the current one first, then add Pat with the steps above.

You don’t need to add Pat again each year. Permission lasts until you remove it or the broker’s MNsure certification ends, so it carries into renewal.

Any time, but before open enrollment is easiest. Open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs November 1 to January 15. Enroll by December 15 for coverage from January 1, or later in the window for coverage from February 1. With Pat already linked, we can look at your renewal with you as soon as the window opens.