It has been reported that 1,332 counties in America will only have one health insurer on the Obamacare exchanges, according to a new study from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The CMS also reported that 40 counties do not have any health insurers on the Obamacare exchanges.
The CMS reported, “The map currently shows that nationwide 40 counties are projected to have no issurers, meaning that Americans in these counties could be without coverage on the Exchanges in 2018. It’s also projected that 1,332 counties—over 40 percent of counties nationwide—could only have one issuer in 2018.”
“This could represent more than 2.3 million Exchange participants that will only have one choice and may not be able to receive the coverage they need,” the agency added.
At least 27,660 Americans live in counties that the CMS projected will not have any health coverage on the Obamacare marketplaces next year.
The CMS estimated that average Obamacare marketplace insurance premiums increased by 21.6 percent between 2016 and 2017. The agency also suggested that the health insurer participation dropped by more than a third since its peak in 2015, two years after the Obamacare exchanges opened.
After Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted to keep Obamacare last week, President Donald Trump suggested that he should let Obamacare implode to force Democrats and Republicans to compromise on repealing and replacing Obamacare.