Minnesotans who’ve taken a common precaution against identity theft are having trouble signing up for health insurance on MNsure, the state’s Obamacare exchange.
In order to verify applicants’ identities, MNsure uses a federal service that draws data from the credit bureau Experian, so people who restrict access to their credit reports in order to prevent identity theft inadvertently prevent the exchange from getting the necessary information.
Those people’s general concerns might be well-founded: In September, a MNsure staffer accidentally sent an e-mail containing Social Security numbers and other identifying information of potential “navigator” applicants to an insurance broker.