Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market

Stimulating competition is one of the main topics in most health care reform debates, and it has been a central issue in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), USA, since 2009. The goal of this paper is to use complex network methods to study dynamic and structure of competition under ACA and its evolution...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: David A. Gianetto, Mohsen Mosleh, Babak Heydari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2018-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8276567/
_version_ 1818617856287309824
author David A. Gianetto
Mohsen Mosleh
Babak Heydari
author_facet David A. Gianetto
Mohsen Mosleh
Babak Heydari
author_sort David A. Gianetto
collection DOAJ
description Stimulating competition is one of the main topics in most health care reform debates, and it has been a central issue in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), USA, since 2009. The goal of this paper is to use complex network methods to study dynamic and structure of competition under ACA and its evolution over time since its beginning until 2017. Using publicly available data, we construct a bipartite network of counties and insurance providers, create associated weighted single-mode networks, and analyze the evolution of network parameters that are related to competition and potential collusion in complex networks. These parameters have been previously tied to the dynamics of collaboration and competition in earlier theoretical works. We argue that three parameters (network modularity, and the mean and skewness of eigenvector centrality) are appropriate indicators of the overall competition in the insurance market. Based on these parameters, we show that the level of systemic competition among insurers as a function of time is an inverse U-shape trend, and that competition has returned back to what it was at the very beginning of ACA, indicating an undesirable resilience in the national health care system.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T17:12:20Z
format Article
id doaj.art-951b96510efa4c518516fe33aa716cde
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2169-3536
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T17:12:20Z
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj.art-951b96510efa4c518516fe33aa716cde2022-12-21T22:23:22ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362018-01-016127001270910.1109/ACCESS.2018.28006598276567Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance MarketDavid A. Gianetto0Mohsen Mosleh1Babak Heydari2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4964-8655School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USASchool of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USASchool of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USAStimulating competition is one of the main topics in most health care reform debates, and it has been a central issue in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), USA, since 2009. The goal of this paper is to use complex network methods to study dynamic and structure of competition under ACA and its evolution over time since its beginning until 2017. Using publicly available data, we construct a bipartite network of counties and insurance providers, create associated weighted single-mode networks, and analyze the evolution of network parameters that are related to competition and potential collusion in complex networks. These parameters have been previously tied to the dynamics of collaboration and competition in earlier theoretical works. We argue that three parameters (network modularity, and the mean and skewness of eigenvector centrality) are appropriate indicators of the overall competition in the insurance market. Based on these parameters, we show that the level of systemic competition among insurers as a function of time is an inverse U-shape trend, and that competition has returned back to what it was at the very beginning of ACA, indicating an undesirable resilience in the national health care system.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8276567/Affordable Care Actcomplex networksresiliencenetwork centralityhealth care competitioninsurance competition
spellingShingle David A. Gianetto
Mohsen Mosleh
Babak Heydari
Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
IEEE Access
Affordable Care Act
complex networks
resilience
network centrality
health care competition
insurance competition
title Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
title_full Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
title_fullStr Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
title_full_unstemmed Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
title_short Dynamic Structure of Competition Networks in Affordable Care Act Insurance Market
title_sort dynamic structure of competition networks in affordable care act insurance market
topic Affordable Care Act
complex networks
resilience
network centrality
health care competition
insurance competition
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8276567/
work_keys_str_mv AT davidagianetto dynamicstructureofcompetitionnetworksinaffordablecareactinsurancemarket
AT mohsenmosleh dynamicstructureofcompetitionnetworksinaffordablecareactinsurancemarket
AT babakheydari dynamicstructureofcompetitionnetworksinaffordablecareactinsurancemarket