MINNEAPOLIS — About 16,000 Minnesotans who applied for medical assistance through MNsure still aren’t getting coverage due to state errors in processing their applications.

Reports say the affected customers had problems with their original applications. But letters notifying them of the problems never got sent out — so they didn’t know they had to provide additional information.

Department of Human Services Deputy Commissioner Chuck Johnson called it a “serious error.”

The problems were discovered in January. But officials learned late last week that the issue wasn’t resolved and many people were never told their applications were incomplete.

More than 149,000 low-income Minnesotans used MNsure to apply for medical assistance. This situation marks the latest misstep as state officials try to get coverage for as many people as possible.