Dayton Says MNsure Is getting better, But challenges Still remain

ST. PAUL, (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton says he believes progress has been made on fixing problems with Minnesota's health insurance marketplace but knows challenges remain.

Dayton said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press that he's keeping tabs on MNsure nine days into its new leadership. The Democratic governor has a conference call Friday with new CEO Scott Leitz, and is scheduled to visit MNsure headquarters next week.

Last week, MNsure extended an enrollment deadline for Minnesotans who want coverage starting Jan. 1. They now have until Dec. 31 to sign up.

Dayton says MNsure has reduced a backlog of stalled applications by manually entering several thousand. He says wait times at MNsure's call center are still long but will likely drop as website glitches are resolved.