Her counterpart in California, however, will have a much wider variety of choices: 13 insurers are likely to offer plans, including the state’s largest and best-known carriers. With only a few months remaining before Americans will start buying coverage through the new state insurance exchanges under President Obama’s health care law, it is becoming clear that the millions of people purchasing policies in the exchanges will find that their choices vary sharply, depending on where they live. States like California, Colorado and Maryland have attracted an array of insurers. But options for people in other states may be limited to an already dominant local Blue Cross plan and a few newcomers with little or no track record in providing individual coverage, including the two dozen new carriers across the country created under the Affordable Care Act. Maine residents, for example, will not see an influx of new insurers. The state has an older population and strict rules that already have discouraged many insurers from selling policies, so choices will probably be limited to the state’s dominant carrier, Anthem Blue Cross, and Maine Community Health Options. “What we’re seeing is a reflection of the market that already exists,” said Timothy S. Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia who closely follows the health care law. Obama administration officials estimate that most Americans will have a choice of at least five carriers when open enrollment begins in October. There are signs of increased competition, with new insurers and existing providers working harder to design more affordable and innovative plans. In 31 states, officials say there will be insurers that offer plans across state lines. The exchanges will be open to the millions of Americans who are uninsured or already buying individual coverage. Many will be eligible for federal subsidies. But the insurance landscape will be highly varied, with some of the states that have been slow to embrace the law potentially offering the fewest options — and plans with the highest premiums — in the first year. People in certain parts of the country may not have the robust choice of insurers that the law sought as a way to keep premiums lower and customer responsiveness high. These people are likely to have few brand-name options to choose from, and they will be gambling on plans offered by insurers new to the individual market as well as brand-new carriers. The choice of providers and costs could also vary as a result. As people become aware of the differences among the exchanges, “some of the laggard states are going to end up changing,” said Ron Pollack, the executive director for Families USA, a consumer advocacy group that supports the law. Whether the law ultimately accomplishes its aim of making the insurance markets nationwide more competitive — and plans more affordable — will only become clear over time. Experts expect some insurers to drop out after a year or so, while some other companies may decide to enter, depending on how the markets evolve. Insurers will have to figure out how to offer plans that most people can afford but still provide coverage to those with expensive medical conditions — and, for investor-owned plans, how to make a profit in the meantime. “A rush to judgment will be just that,” said Dan Mendelson, the chief executive of Avalere Health, a consulting group. “It’s not going to be possible in 2014 to make a strong valid judgment of whether the exchanges are working or not.” Insurers already active in the market are the most likely to show up on the exchanges. Blue Cross plans, for example, have already established relationships with local hospitals and physician groups, as well as state regulators. “We don’t have to recreate the wheel because the Blue plans are already there,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, the chief executive of Independence Blue Cross, a nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia. In California, Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California will remain big players. Most likely to be missing from any given exchange are many of the national insurers, whose business is focused mainly on providing coverage to workers through their employers — companies liked UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and Cigna.
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