By Christopher Snowbeck

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Medica will stop selling health insurance to small businesses through MNsure, leaving just one insurer on the portion of the state’s health exchange for firms with 50 employees or fewer.

The Minnetonka-based health plan cited a lack of interest among small employers and their insurance agents.

“It’s not a MNsure-specific issue,” said John Naylor, senior vice president of commercial markets at Medica, which is also dropping out of small-business exchanges in North Dakota and Wisconsin. “If you look across the country, the participation on the [small-business] exchanges — it just isn’t there.”

Policies for small businesses sold through MNsure were originally expected to cover 155,000 people by next year, but the enrollment tally this month was less than 1,300.

MNsure officials said there’s reason to think the loss of Medica won’t have a huge impact on its Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).

About 83 percent of current SHOP enrollees are in plans from Blue Cross, said MNsure spokesman Shane Delaney. The exchange is spending about $60,000 to promote the small-business portion of MNsure, Delaney said, adding that MNsure has new partnerships with four certified broker agencies focused on the small-business market.