It would appear about one-third of the counties in the United States will only have one insurance carrier, thus no choice at all. This is the opinion of the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Further, they suggest that only two carriers will be available in another 31% of the counties. Previously, only 7% of the counties were limited to one and 29% had only two.
The Affordable Care Act is truly in crisis, and regardless of ones political persuasion, it is clear that major changes must be taken.
The arguments and finger pointing are plentiful, insurance companies taking revenge, the government not paying promised subsidies, guarantee issue policies do not have enough healthy people, sick people select against the companies, etc. The list is long and vocal. The solutions are few, divisive and expensive.
The deductibles, already higher than most wanted, may be the only choice for those trying to retain their current renewal premium. The networks are getting narrower, as insurers are attempting to reign in costs.
We are all simply observers, waiting for final premiums and plan designs to be published. Clearly there will not be many happy campers. Stay tuned; more bad news is on the horizon.