Minnesota health insurance, explained
Health insurance for high-income households in Minnesota
If your household earns more than 400% of the federal poverty level — $62,600 for one person, $128,600 for a family of four, for 2026 coverage — MNsure has no tax credit for you, and the enhanced credits that used to reach further ended with 2025. That does not make MNsure irrelevant, but it changes the job: you are buying at full price, so the plan itself has to be right, and the whole market — on the marketplace and off it — is in play.
The cap, in dollars
For 2026 coverage the credit ends at $62,600 (one), $84,600 (two), $106,600 (three) and $128,600 (four). For 2027 coverage it rises with the 2026 poverty guidelines to roughly $63,840 and $132,000. Income means modified adjusted gross income for the tax household — wages, business profit, investment income, retirement withdrawals.
Same plan on or off MNsure
A plan sold in both places costs the same in both. Without a credit, the reason to use MNsure disappears, and the reason to look off-marketplace appears: some carriers sell plans directly that they do not list on MNsure. Compare all of it.
Where the value is at full price
Three places. The trade between premium and deductible — a family that rarely uses care usually comes out ahead on a higher deductible. The network — in Minnesota the difference between a narrow network and a broad one is often the difference between keeping your clinic and not. And the HSA: pair an eligible plan with a Health Savings Account and set aside up to $8,750 a year for a family ($4,400 for one person) before tax, which at a high marginal rate is the biggest discount available to a household the credit does not reach.
If you own a business
A group plan through your business can be the better structure: premiums paid by the business are deductible to it, the plan can include employees, and carriers underwrite groups differently. Our small business guide covers the routes.
Near the line? Mind the cliff
The cap is a cliff, not a slope. A household a few thousand dollars over it gets nothing; a few thousand under it can get a credit worth more than the difference. If your income is variable or you control its timing — a bonus, a capital gain, a retirement withdrawal, a Roth conversion — the year’s planning is worth a conversation with us and your tax preparer together.
Questions we get about this
Is there any point using MNsure if I do not qualify for a credit?
Only convenience. The plans cost the same either way, and buying directly opens up plans that are not listed on MNsure. We quote both.
Are there catastrophic plans for high earners?
Catastrophic marketplace plans are limited to people under 30 or with a hardship exemption. For everyone else the low-premium option is a bronze or HSA-eligible plan.
Does investment income count toward the cap?
Yes. Interest, dividends and capital gains are all part of modified adjusted gross income, along with wages, business profit and retirement withdrawals.
Can I lower my income to get under the line?
Sometimes legitimately — pre-tax retirement contributions, HSA contributions and the timing of gains and withdrawals all reduce or move MAGI. That is tax planning, so it belongs in a conversation with your preparer as well as with us.
Ask us the version that is about you.
Pat or Spencer reads every request personally. Certified MNsure brokers, independent since 1986, and there is no charge for the conversation.