Quote:LOL, when was the last time you read a book on economics.  I mean seriously, Econ101 completely shuts down your arguement.  You honestly think that the ACA (Obamacare) causes the consolidation?  Talk about a spurious correlation...  X happened.  Then A happened.  X caused A.  That's not always how it works...

 

We had a free market solution prior to the ACA...  The insurance companies were making up all the rules.  How'd that work out for us?  

 

The correlation is found in the incentives offered to the industry by the regulation. Rather than paying fee for service the new laws pay based on the outcomes to the population through bonus pools. Those pools represent increases to profits only if the size of the patient panel is large enough that the percentage increase tallies to a higher per claim rate than the current system. Therefore, the insurance companies are consolidating because each one must increase the number of covered lives in their organizations. The end result: each company that will survive must purchase patient panel by absorbing other payers. In other words, the ACA is driving consolidation. 

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