10 best states for health insurance carrier jobs

Last week, we used Census Bureau data to present a list of the 10 grimmest states for health insurance carrier jobs.

This week, we’re presenting the much more cheerful sequel: a list of states in which the number of health carrier jobs increased dramatically from 2003 through 2013.

Health insurer employers in those states increased the number of paid employees 27 percent to 129 percent over the period included in the data, which comes from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns survey series.

Of course, there are some important warnings to keep in mind.

One is that 2013 was a year in which many health insurers were preparing for the arrival of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) public exchange system. Maybe the ups and downs in the health insurance market that have taken place since Jan. 1, 2014, have changed carrier employment in ways not reflected, even a little bit, in the 2013 survey data.

Another is that this data does not reflect changes in employment at health insurance agencies, independent wholesalers, benefit plan administrators, technology support companies, collection agencies and other companies involved in the health insurance market.

See also: PPACA spawned dozens of startups

A third warning is that the raw statewide employment count we’re publishing here does not necessarily show whether the jobs added were good jobs with benefits, or dead-end jobs, or if jobs moved from one region in a state to other regions in the same state.

See also: 10 best cities for jobs: 2015

But, during the period in question, health insurers throughout the United States managed to increase employment 11 percent, to 503,818, as overall insurance carrier employment fell 4.4 percent, to 1.4 million.

Next week, we’ll try to get a sense of what happened to the good insurance jobs by crunching Census Bureau health insurance carrier payroll numbers.

For now, for a look at the states with what would appear to be the hottest health insurance carrier employment markets, along with a re-run of the supplemental all-state health insurer employment table we published last week, read on. 

10. Utah

2003 health carrier employment: 2,792

2013 health carrier employment: 3,536

Change, from 2003 to 2013, in percent: +27%

See also: Top 10 smartest states for financial literacy: 2015

Image: Goblin Valley, Utah 

9. Georgia

2003 health carrier employment: 10,171

2013 health carrier employment: 13,022

Change, from 2003 to 2013, in percent: +28%

See also: These are the 10 best states for business, ranked by CEOs

Image: A Georgia peach (GI photo/Maksym Narodenko)

8. Texas

2003 health carrier employment: 22,372

2013 health carrier employment: 28,836

Change, from 2003 to 2013, in percent: +29% 

See also: Uninsured rate is also bigger in Texas

Image: A car in Texas. (GI photo/Jill Miller)

7. Wisconsin

2003 health carrier employment: 12,268

2013 health carrier employment: 16,942

Change, from 2003 to 2013, in percent: +38%

See also: 30 of the most livable cities for baby boomers