Insurer participation and competition in Obamacare declined again in 2018 at both the state and county levels. In 2017, nearly one-third of counties (32.8 percent) had only one insurer offering exchange coverage. In 2018, more than half (51.3 percent) of all counties face that situation. Many insurers have exited the exchanges; ones that remain offer higher premiums and narrow network plans. The emerging norm appears to be one in which major metropolitan areas have two or three insurers offering exchange coverage, while less-populous areas have only one. A health insurance monopoly offering overly expensive coverage that pays for only a very limited set of providers is deeply unattractive, especially to customers who previously enjoyed choice in both their insurance and medical care. Not surprisingly, consumers are looking to Congress and the President for help in escaping the soaring costs and shrinking choices that characterize the ACA exchanges.
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