More Competition Needed in Nebraska Health Insurance Market
The Lincoln Journal Star has reported on a recently released report from the American Medical Association, Competition in Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Study of U.S. Markets, 2011 update.
The report found Nebraska to be the 10th least competitive health insurance market among the 50 states. One or two providers account for over 65% of all accounts in the following areas: commercial health insurance, HMOs, PPOs, and point-of-service products.
What’s needed? An increase of competition in the industry. Some ways to infuse competition and consequently lower costs for consumers are:
· voluntary purchasing pools;
· eliminate purchasing restrictions;
· allow insurance companies to sell across state lines;
· make health insurance policies portable; and
· increased transparency in the purchasing process.
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These are only a few of the ideas to help infuse competition in the Nebraska health insurance market and make coverage more affordable for all of us. As Milton Friedman would say, competition is the only solution.
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