American Medical Association’s Study of Nation’s 25 Largest Health Insurers Indicates that Biggest Companies Hold Dominant Market Share in Most Regional Markets
Survey results show pathologists and clinical lab managers why largest health insurers have market clout and can exclude local labs from their provider networks
Over the past two decades, ongoing mergers and acquisitions of health insurance organizations have led to ever-greater concentration of market share, even as the number of large health insurance companies has shrunk. One consequence of this trend is that many clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have lost access to managed care patients.
The degree of market concentration will surprise most pathologists and medical laboratory professionals. The concentration of market ownership is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the 25 largest health insurers in the United States now control two-thirds of this $744-billion market. But the largest plans are not necessarily the best, according to 2013 consumer satisfaction surveys conducted by J.D. Power & Associates. (more…)
