Commercial health insurance highly concentrated in most markets, but not Chattanooga, study shows

Competition and choices among health insurance plans have lessened in the past five years in most U. S. cities, but not in Chattanooga, according to a new study of health care options by the American Medical Association.

In its annual review of commercial health insurance options, the AMA said nearly three fourths of all metro markets have what federal regulators regard as a highly concentrated market where one or two health insurers dominate the commercial market for health care coverage.

Between 2014 and 2019, the share of markets that were highly concentrated in commercial health insurance increased from 71% to 74%. The results were based upon using the HerfindahlHirschman Index (HHI) of market concentration often used in anti-trust actions.

“For many of the 70 million Americans who live in highly concentrated health insurance markets, a lack of competition is a problem that keeps getting worse as consumers have more limited health insurance options to choose,” said AMA President Susan R. Bailey. “The AMA strongly encourages dialogue among regulators, policymakers, lawmakers, and others about the need for a better,