Almost half of the nation's local commercial insurance markets are majority controlled by one payer, according to the American Medical Association.
The AMA's annual "Competition in Health Insurance" report, published Nov. 19, found that 95% of metropolitan areas have "highly concentrated" commercial health insurance markets. In 89% of metropolitan areas, one payer has at least a 30% market share in combined HMO, PPO, point-of-sale and exchange markets. In 47% of markets, one insurer had a share of
50% or more.
These are the states where the largest payer controls more than half of the market:
Alabama
BCBS: 86% market share
Kentucky
Elevance: 67% market share
Michigan
BCBS: 67% market share
Louisiana
BCBS: 66% market share
Illinois
BCBS: 63% market share
Hawaii
BCBS: 63% market share
South Carolina
BCBS: 59% market share
Oklahoma
BCBS: 57% market share
Vermont
BCBS: 57% market share
Indiana
Elevance: 56% market share
Delaware
Highmark: 56% market share