The Senate approved the health insurance exchange bill on a party-line vote of 39-28. They sent the bill to Gov. Mark Dayton, who has vowed to sign it and whose administration has already been working for months on setting up the venture and hiring its employees ahead of a planned Oct. 1 enrollment debate.

The centerpiece of the plan is the health care exchange, a website where individuals and small business owners can compare and purchase private insurance plans. By 2016, according to initial projections, about 1.3 million Minnesota residents will get insurance through the exchange. In addition to the 300,000 who are uninsured — who will get federal subsidies to help purchase coverage — another million Minnesotans will either transfer to the exchange from existing medical assistance programs, or through their employer.

"We finally get a plan that will hopefully give health insurance access to a lot of Minnesotans at a better price," said Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights.