ST. PAUL, MN – Today, Governor Mark Dayton announced the reappointments of Mr. Benner and Mr. Norrgard to their current seats, which were scheduled to expire next month. The seven-member board is responsible for overseeing MNsure.

“I am pleased to reappoint both of them to the Board, and I thank them both for their willingness to continue this very important service,” said Governor Dayton. “Mr. Benner and Mr. Norrgard have both been outstanding leaders of MNsure, Mr. Benner as the Board Chair. They deserve great credit, along with the rest of the Board, for guiding MNsure’s development into a reliable, responsive health insurance exchange.”

Mr. Benner is reappointed as the member who has demonstrated expertise, leadership, and innovation in the areas of health administration, health care finance, health plan purchasing and health care delivery systems, and Mr. Norrgard is reappointed as the member representing individual consumers eligible for public health care program coverage. The terms of both appointees will expire on May 5, 2021.

 

Mr. Benner is a consultant on health care, labor relations, and public policy. Before consulting, he worked for many years with AFSCME, including as the executive director of AFSCME Council 6, where he was the lead negotiator with the State of Minnesota in designing the insurance benefits for state employees and their families. He also sat on many boards and commissions relating to health care including: Minnesota Health Care Access Commission, Minnesota Health Care Commission, Minnesota Citizen’s Forum on Health Care Costs, Governor’s Health Care Transformation Task Force, Governor’s Health Care Reform Task Force, Minnesota Community Measurement, and the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement. 

 

Mr. Norrgard recently retired after serving 37 years as the Director of Human Services on the Fond du Lac Reservation, where he performed many of the same tasks as a county health and human services administrator. Additionally, he provided, purchased, and contracted for a range of medical, dental, pharmacy, chemical dependency, behavioral health, chiropractic care, and in-home health care services. Mr. Norrgard served as a founding member on the Fond du Lac Insurance Board of Directors and helped establish Fond du Lac’s self-insurance medical plan and negotiated the catastrophic coverage. Additionally, he served as the founding member of the Indian Mental Health Advisory Council and the Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council. 

 

The MNsure Board meets on a monthly basis and is responsible for oversight of MNsure. More information about the Board, and its work, can be found on the MNsure website by clicking here.