2014 federal insurance exchange: Evaluation of insurer participation and consumer choice

The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) has released insurer plan information for the federally facilitated exchanges in 34 states for the individual exchange market and 32 states for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange market, since the state and federal exchanges opened October 1, 2013. This gives consumers and the health insurance industry the first opportunity to view the landscape of the new exchange market (also known as Health Insurance Marketplaces).

The federally facilitated exchange data released by CCIIO provides insight into the makeup of the insurance marketplaces. The number of existing insurers participating, new entrants, and plan designs available on the federally facilitated exchanges varies greatly between states and within states at the county level. Premium and plan information for each plan offered in the federal exchange is provided by state, exchange rating area, and county. Similar data for the state exchanges has not been released in a consolidated fashion at the time this report was published. 

In some states, market share in the individual and small group markers may be minimally impacted by the exchange marketplace. However, in states that have insurers with significant current market share declining to participate in the exchanges, or in states with new Medicaid or CO-OP insurers entering the market, market share may change significantly in a short period of time. 

As state-based exchanges begin to release similar data, it will be insightful to understand whether the types of observations illustrated in this report are consistent between state and federally operated exchanges. This report will be updated in the future as additional data is made available.