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

[Triana]

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 ; 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.


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[PATRICK]

1. Don't take the eye off the

main point. Who exactly empowers a few against the many? Does a miraculous entitlement come with senate rules of chairmanship and membership? They are empowered by the WH and the rest of leadership as are the GOP. This is not a hand-wringing search for a coalition government but enabling of what many others want- which is LESS reform for most of the same reasons. However, if political not profiteering reality ever takes hold, the cover of feckless Blue Dogs and corporate media, and the "Reagan" style dream of bipartisan government(the big GOP lie the Obama campaign seems to have sincerely bought into) will give way to politely brushing the noble Blue Dogs' thankfully failed efforts aside- as if they never existed as a knife to the throats of one and all.

[4_TN_TITANS]

2. Well... that says it all. n/t