By my best count, there are 1,014 major health insurance carriers in the United States. Just think of the choice that represents… more than a thousand different ways to be denied coverage because you're alive and that's technically a pre-existing condition.
Together, the top five health insurers by number of policies – Kaiser, United, Aetna, Cigna, and Anthem – carry 36 percent of all health insurance plans. That's an astonishing level of control over our access to medical care, and I'm sure any one of them wouldn't at all mind if they controlled the whole shebang.
It's a war the Top Five are fighting on multiple fronts, with some interesting battlegrounds.
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Kaiser has the small policy field (2-99) absolutely dominated. There are some incredible inroads to be made there by the other carriers.
United Healthcare has the medium zone well in hand – that's where my company falls.
Cigna flies under the radar for a while, and then BAM – the biggest player in the exceptionally lucrative 1000+ market.
If I were a C-level exec at one of these carriers, I would be looking at this data and wondering what my next move was. Except for Anthem – you just keep being the Littlest Big Carrier because you're so adorable next to the four giants.
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