The Obama administration, when asked about 2017 Obamacare insurance premiums that are on track to be significantly higher than in past years, has repeatedly said that consumers can shop around between plans for better prices. But in areas where this is no or little competition, price shopping will be less of an option.
And more than half of the country, 55 percent, may end up having
two or fewer insurers to choose from on those government-run exchanges, Avalere said.
The findings reflect the effect of announcements this summer that three major insurers ? Aetna (AET), UnitedHealth (UNH), and Humana (HUM) ? will sharply reduce the number of areas where they will sell individual health plans in 2017 due to financial losses on those plans, as well as the failures of most Obamacare co-op insurance plans.
Pinal County, Arizona, is one place that is, as of now, not expected to have an Obamacare insurer to choose from on the federal HealthCare.gov exchange next year. The county near Phoenix, which has 400,000 residents, has seen two insurers, United Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona decided to exit the area
One-third of US won't have choice between Obamacare plans in 2017
Avalere President Dan Mendelson said that the decrease in competition in Obamacare plans is the result of lower-than-expected enrollment, consumers who are costing insurers a lot in health-care benefits, and "troubled" programs that were intended to reduce the risk insurers face by selling coverage on the exchanges.