Fewer options on insurance exchanges

Kaiser Health News published some research showing the decline in the number of insurers participating in the exchanges for the Affordable Care Act. In the first year that the exchanges were operational, states on average had five participating. That average dropped to 3.5 in 2018, with eight states having only one participating insurer (in 2014, there were two). In 2015 and 2016, the average was higher than where it started in 2014.

These few data points are not enough to draw a trend line, but the latest statistic is not encouraging. The interactive map gives a sense of how many more counties only have one option.