Are you curious as to why the health insurance industry is fighting so hard? I think it's a good idea to arm ourselves with some numbers.
From 1999 to 2007, average insurance premiums have risen 120%, while US wages (on average) have risen only 29%. Moreover, in that same time, the profits of health insurers have risen 428%!
I hope this information can be distilled into a talking point somehow.
A lot of this has happened because of consolidations in the health insurance market. Many of the numbers and quotes in this diary are taken from Premiums Soaring in Consolidated Health Insurance Market
Profits at 10 of the country’s largest publicly traded health insurance companies in 2007 rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007, from $2.4 billion to $12.9 billion, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. In 2007 alone the chief executive officers at these companies collected combined total compensation of $118.6 million — an average of $11.9 million each. That is 468 times more than the $25,434 an average American worker made that year.35
Moreover, premiums have risen 120% while wages have risen 29%.
The profits keep on coming, too. Several insurance companies have announced that they're on track for record profits in 2009 - this is when the economy is in a recession, folks!
How consolidated is the market? Takes a look (sorry about formatting). The information is by state. The first number is the market share of the insurance company with the largest market share; the second is the market share with the second largest market share, and the third number is the total market share controlled by just two insurance companies.
1 Hawaii Blue Cross Blue Shield HI 78 Kaiser Permanente 20 98
2 Rhode Island Blue Cross Blue Shield RI 79 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 16 95
3 Alaska Premera Blue Cross 60 Aetna Inc. 35 95
4 Vermont Blue Cross Blue Shield VT 77 CIGNA Corp. 13 90
5 Alabama Blue Cross Blue Shield AL 83 Health Choice 5 88
6 Maine WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 78 Aetna Inc. 10 88
7 Montana Blue Cross Blue Shield MT 75 New West Health Services 10 85
8 Wyoming Blue Cross Blue Shield WY 70 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 15 85
9 Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield AR 75 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 6 81
10 Iowa Wellmark BC and BS 71 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 9 80
11 Missouri WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 68 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 11 79
12 Minnesota Blue Cross Blue Shield MN 50 Medica 26 76
13 South Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield SC 66 CIGNA Corp. 9 75
14 Indiana WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 60 M*Plan (HealthCare Group) 15 75
15 New Hampshire WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 51 CIGNA Corp. 24 75
16 Idaho Blue Cross of ID 46 Regence BS of Idaho 29 75
17 Louisiana Blue Cross Blue Shield LA 61 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 13 74
18 Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield MI 65 Henry Ford Health System 8 73
19 North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield NC 53 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 20 73
20 Maryland CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield 52 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 19 71
21 Oklahoma BCBS OK 45 CommunityCare 26 71
22 Georgia WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 61 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 8 69
23 Kentucky WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 59 Health Partners 10 69
24 Illinois HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield) 47 WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 22 69
25 Nebraska Blue Cross Blue Shield NE 44 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 25 69
26 Utah Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield 47 Intermountain Healthcare 21 68
27 Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield MA 50 Tufts Health Plan 17 67
28 Connecticut WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 55 Health Net Inc. 11 66
29 Arizona Blue Cross Blue Shield AZ 43 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 22 65
30 Delaware CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield 42 Coventry Health Care Inc. 23 65
31 New Mexico HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield) 35 Presbyterian Hlth 30 65
32 Tennessee Blue Cross Blue Shield TN 50 Total Choice 12 62
33 Virginia WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 50 Aetna Inc. 11 61
34 Washington Premera Blue Cross 38 Regence Blue Shield 23 61
35 Texas HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield ) 39 Aetna Inc. 20 59
36 New Jersey Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield 34 Aetna Inc. 25 59
37 Ohio WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 41 Medical Mutual of Ohio 17 58
38 Nevada Sierra Health 29 WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 28 57
39 Colorado WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) 29 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 24 53
40 Oregon Providence Health & Services 25 Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield 23 48
41 New York GHI 26 WellPoint Inc. (Empire BCBS) 21 47
42 Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield FL 30 Aetna Inc. 15 45
43 California Kaiser Permanente 24 WellPoint Inc. (Blue Cross) 20 44
We have single payer now, folks... but run by corporations and not by elected officials answerable to us.