On September 25th, the Department of Health & Human Services released a report entitled "Health Insurance Marketplace Premiums for 2014" that provided some insights regarding the health insurance options to be offered within the new Affordable Care Act exchanges.1
One of the items discussed in the report was level of health insurance options available within the various state exchanges. This matter of "on-exchange" health plan inventory has a matter of considerable importance given that some well-known brands such as United Healthcare and Aetna have chosen not to participate in various exchanges.
The Health & Human Services Report indicated that for states using an exchange supported by the federal government, the average number of health plan options would be 53.2 Alabama averaged the fewest health plans (7) across the state and Arizona averaged the most cross the state (106).3 Depending on the area of the state, these numbers could be lower or higher.
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