ISS - Senate Dems against public option come from states with near-monopoly insurance markets

ISS - Senate Dems against public option come from states with near-monopoly insurance markets

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Yet these Democrats represent states that may be most in need of a public insurance choice to compete with private plans. Four out of five of the Democrats who voted "no" on Rockefeller's amendment come from states where one insurance company controls 42% or more of the market -- a level of market dominance that the Department of Justice legally defines as "highly concentrated."

Here are how these senators' states rate for insurance market concentration:

STATE -- % OF MARKET CONTROLLED BY BIGGEST COMPANY*

NORTH DAKOTA -- 89% controlled by Noridian/Blue Cross Blue Shield ND
ARKANSAS -- 75% of health insurance market controlled by Blue Cross Blue Shield AR
MONTANA -- 75% controlled by Blue Cross Blue Shield MT
DELAWARE -- 42% controlled by CareFirst/Blue Cross Blue Shield
FLORIDA -- 30% controlled by Blue Cross Blue Shield FL

Only one of the Democrats -- Sen. Bill Nelson from Florida -- comes from a state without a "highly concentrated" health insurance market, although it's notable that the state's top two insurers (BCBS and Aetna) together control 45% of the market.

Nation-wide, 94% of insurance markets are near-monopolies -- and as Facing South reported earlier, the metro area with the worst concentration in the country (Texarkana, 97%) falls in the district of fierce public option opponent and Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR).

* Most of this data can be found in the American Medical Association's 2007 report on competition in health insurance [pdf]; the North Dakota figures come from this recent reportpublished by Health Care for America Now! Note that North Dakota figures include accident and health coverage.