ST. PAUL, Minn.- Representatives from Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte) today presented the MNsure Board of Directors with the results of its technical assessment, as well as additional recommendations to strengthen the system and support MNsure's commitment to making enrollment in health insurance easier and more efficient for Minnesotans.

Since late April, Deloitte has been working with MNsure's technology vendors and State staff to analyze the current system, identify gaps, prioritize issues, and develop recommendations to support ongoing operations, the 2015 open enrollment period, and beyond. The technical assessment Deloitte highlighted today evaluated the system to determine how well it can be maintained, expanded, upgraded, used and secured.

"This report from Deloitte reiterates our long-term vision for the MNsure marketplace," said MNsure CEO Scott Leitz. "More than a quarter of a million Minnesotans are now enrolled in comprehensive, affordable health insurance through MNsure. While we are pleased that many have the peace of mind that health coverage can bring, we still have work ahead to ensure that more Minnesotans get into coverage."

In its technical assessment, Deloitte focused on (1) the State's ability to make and incorporate needed changes to the system, (2) whether the system has sufficient "horsepower" to meet the likely demands placed on it in the upcoming enrollment cycle, (3) whether the custom designs of the four vendor products will be an impediment to implementation, (4) the State's ability to achieve its business imperative of providing an excellent consumer experience, and (5) the prevalence of security issues that could put customers or the State at risk.
Deloitte found that:

• From a security and privacy perspective, the State has been very focused on its compliance efforts and no major issues or risks were identified.
• From a hardware perspective, the system appears to have adequate "horsepower" to scale to meet near-term processing demands; however, from a software perspective, optimization efforts may be needed to improve system performance and the user experience prior to this fall's open enrollment period. Additional testing will also be needed across all commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to support 2015 open enrollment.
• Several aspects of the MNsure system architecture are contemporary and consistent with industry practices.
• The COTS product vendors do not anticipate any major or unique implementation impediments due to the customization of their products.
• The State's goal of providing users of the system with an excellent customer experience is complicated by the fact that each COTS product presents its own interface to the user, and may result in confusion.

Deloitte today also briefly discussed the IT project work plan they have developed, which MNsure and MN.IT Services are currently reviewing. This work plan will serve as the primary instrument to plan, monitor and manage the project's IT activities. It will identify and integrate all relevant participants and their respective actions (including the State, system vendors, and health insurance carriers); provide clear communication across the project; track outcomes; and measure progress.

"Although the road ahead will be challenging, we are very encouraged by the results of our technical review and the State's actions to address many of our earlier recommendations," said Brian Keane, project principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

"We are pleased with the work done by Deloitte to help MNsure address the immediate needs to improve fall open enrollment," said MNsure Board Chairman Brian Beutner. "As we further examine the IT system for the long term, this technical report is a first step in that assessment. The ultimate goal of any assessment of the MNsure IT system is to improve MNsure's ability to continue reducing the number of uninsured in Minnesota."

Since the launch of MNsure, 262,863 Minnesotans have enrolled in quality, affordable coverage through MNsure. 155,093 are enrolled in Medical Assistance, 55,445 in MinnesotaCare and 52,325 in a Qualified Health Plan. Between September 30, 2013, and May 1, 2014, the number of uninsured Minnesotans fell by 40.6%, a record low.

As Deloitte's reports are finalized and approved by MNsure, they will be posted at MNsure.org.