ACA health care exchanges see more insurance provider participation

A new report from McKinsey & Company looked at trends in insurance providers participating in individual health care exchanges, and found that participation increased in 2019 compared to previous years. Here's more from the report: 

• Carrier participation: In 2019-2020, there were 245 individual insurance providers (although some may have been owned by a larger company) on healthcare.gov. This was an increase from 218 carriers in the year before that, and 194 carriers in 2017-2018. 
• Expanded coverage: The proportion of U.S. counties with only a single insurance provider decreased from 36% in 2019 to 25% in 2020. 
• Expanded choice: Only about 1 in 10 consumers have the choice of only one insurance provider in their county, while about two-thirds have a pick of at least three providers.