
How Texas’s insurer market may shrink to just one insurer after all, Bloomberg says
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Texas has one insurer for every 100,000 residents, but the state’s insurance market is shrinking.
That’s according to a new analysis from Bloomberg, which said it expects to end up with just one insurance carrier for the next two years.
The news comes amid reports that insurers are cutting back on the number of people covered under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
The number of insurers is at a low level and, as the markets continue to expand, there may not be enough room for everyone to get insurance, Bloomberg’s analysts wrote.
For the past few years, Texas has been on the cusp of seeing a large jump in the number and type of insurance policies.
Texas has seen a record amount of people sign up for Medicaid.
There are about 1.8 million people on the state insurance rolls.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health research group, estimates that the number will continue to rise.
For people buying policies through the state-run marketplaces, there are currently about 10,000 insurance plans, according to the Kaiser report.
The markets are expected to expand even further next year, and more people are expected sign up in 2018, said Jason Fuchs, a spokesman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The state also is expanding Medicaid coverage.