The American Medical Association has identified the insurance industry giants with the largest shares of the commercial health insurance, Medicare Advantage and public health exchange markets in 2023.
The report examined 381 metropolitan statistical areas, the 50 states and the District of Columbia and tabulated market shares for the two largest health insurance companies, according to a Dec. 12 release sent to Becker's.
Here are five things to know about the commercial insurance market, per the AMA:
1. At the national level, the 10 largest health insurers by market were:
1. UnitedHealth Group: 14%
2. Elevance Health: 12%
3. CVS (Aetna): 11%
4. Cigna: 10%
5. Kaiser Permanente: 7%
6. Health Care Service Corp.: 6%
7. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan: 2%
8. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida: 2%
9. Blue Shield of California: 2%
10. Highmark: 2%
2. Under current federal guidelines that define the regulatory threshold for markets considered to be highly concentrated, 73% of metropolitan statistical area-level markets were highly concentrated in 2022, up from 71% in 2014.
3. Under proposed federal guidelines backed by the AMA, 95% of metropolitan statistical area-level markets would be highly concentrated. The lower threshold for what constitutes a highly concentrated market may increase scrutiny and limit harmful insurance company consolidations, the release said.
4. In 48% of metropolitan statistical areas, one health insurer held a market share of at least 50%.
5. Elevance Health (formerly Anthem) was the largest health insurer by market share in 22% of metropolitan statistical areas, followed by Health Care Service Corp. with a market share lead in 11% of metropolitan statistical areas and Highmark with a market share lead in 6% of metropolitan statistical areas.