Evaluating the Impact of Health Insurance Industry Consolidation: Learning from Experience

Research shows consolidation in the private health insurance industry leads to premium increases, even though insurers with larger local market shares generally obtain lower prices from health care providers. Additional research is needed to understand how to protect against harms and unlock benefit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Issue brief (Commonwealth Fund) Vol. 33; p. 1
Main Author: Dafny, Leemore S
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.11.2015
Subjects:
Economic Competition
Financial Management
Health Facility Merger - organization & administration
Humans
Insurance Carriers
Insurance, Health - organization & administration
Medicare Part C - statistics & numerical data
Organizational Affiliation
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
United States
United States
ISSN:1558-6847, 1558-6847
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Research shows consolidation in the private health insurance industry leads to premium increases, even though insurers with larger local market shares generally obtain lower prices from health care providers. Additional research is needed to understand how to protect against harms and unlock benefits from scale. Data on enrollment, premiums, and costs of commercial health insurance--by insurer, plan, customer segment, and local market--would help us understand whether, when, and for whom consolidation is harmful or beneficial. Such transparency is common where there is a strong public interest and substantial public regulation, both of which characterize this vital sector.
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ISSN:1558-6847
1558-6847