My colleague Katherine Restrepo published a very revealing map in her Healthcare Update this week. In North Carolina there are only two companies offering plans on the Obamacare exchange and that’s only in 39 counties. In the other 61 counties customers basically face the same level of competition, or should I say monopoly, as they do when purchasing electricity, cable TV, or water and sewer service. They have one choice of provider and only one choice–Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In the counties that are shaded in yellow the only choice that consumers face is the choice among plans offered by the same company. That’s what’s called consumer choice under Obamacare.
