At the local level, where distinct provider markets exist in metropolitan areas,8 the health insurance industry’s market concentration is even more severe. The . Justice Department considers a market “highly concentrated” if one company holds more than a 42 percent share of that market,9 a level that is common in Virginia and more than 30 other states. In Abilene, Texas, for example, the top insurer controls 85 percent of the In Bangor, Maine, the biggest insurer controls 74 percent of the The market leader in the Battle Creek, Michigan, area holds 83 percent, and 57 percent of the Lincoln, Nebraska, market is served by a lone Americans are paying for this.
