Paying a Premium on Your Premium?Consolidation in the US Health Insurance Industry

摘要

Although the majority of health-care spending in the United States is funneled through the private health insurance industry, few researchers have examined whether the industry itself is contributing to rising health insurance premiums. This possibility has become ever more salient as consolidations continue in this highly concentrated sector. In 2001, the American Medical Association (AMA) reported nearly half of the 40 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were "highly concentrated," as defined by the Horizontal Merger Guidelines issued in 1997 by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. In 2008, the AMA expanded its annual report to include 314 geographic areas (mainly MSAs), 94 percent of which were found to be highly concentrated.