Consumers in a large majority of metropolitan areas across the United States have limited options for health insurance coverage, a new market analysis from the American Medical Association found. The share of commercial markets that are highly concentrated has remained steady at around 95% for most of the past decade, with nearly half of markets that were highly concentrated in 2014 becoming more so by 2023.

“For too many Americans living in highly concentrated health insurance markets, choosing medical coverage feels like having no choice at all,” AMA President Bruce A. Scott, M.D., said. “The AMA strongly encourages a dialogue among regulators, policymakers, lawmakers and others to reverse the trend toward health insurance consolidation and create a better, more open and competitive marketplace to benefit patients.”