Breaking Up Insurers Won’t Cut Costs

Proposals to 'break up big medicine' that focus on large insurers misunderstand the structure of U.S. health care: insurers directly employ a tiny share of clinicians and already bear more prescription costs, while hospital mergers and physician employment by hospitals have been the bigger consolidating force affecting prices. The article cites premium growth (single: $7,491→$9,325 between 2020–2025), UnitedHealthcare’s 90,000 physicians as ~5% of 1.7M providers, and literature finding only nearby hospital monopolies materially raise local prices. — If true, policy should pivot from breaking up insurers toward tougher scrutiny of hospital consolidation and other provider-side drivers of price growth, changing where antitrust and legislative pressure go.