Competition in Health Insurance

Data on competition in health insurance markets
The 2014 Update to Competition in Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Study of U.S. Markets presents new data on the level of competition in health insurance markets across the United States.

It is intended to help researchers, policymakers and federal and state regulators identify areas where consolidation among health insurers may cause anticompetitive harm to consumers and providers of care. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) use this type of information to assess the anticompetitive effects of horizontal mergers between firms.

Using 2012 data from HealthLeaders-Interstudy—the most comprehensive source of data on enrollment in health maintenance organization (HMO), preferred provider organization (PPO), point-of-service (POS) and consumer-driven health plans (CDHP)—we report the two largest insurers’ commercial market shares and concentration measures (HHIs) for 388 metropolitan areas, the 50 states and the District of Columbia.