House Approves Health Care Legislation

Press Release

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved health care reform legislation to provide greater competition in health markets, improve consumer choice and help drive down rising premiums. The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act (H.R. 4626) would repeal health insurance companies' exemption from anti-trust laws. The measure would end special treatment for the insurance industry that allows them to engage in price fixing, collusion, bid rigging and dividing up territories to set their own markets. The legislation passed by a vote of 406-19.

"This was one of the easiest votes I've taken since coming to Congress last year," said Congressman Peters. "Market competition spurs innovation and keeps prices low. The fact that health insurance companies have been able to avoid competition and legally price-fix and collude to drive up rates for so long is ridiculous. This is a common sense, two-page bill that would provide consumers more choices and lower rates that people from all political stripes should be able to get behind."

In the last 14 years, there have been 400 mergers among health care insurers so that 95% of health insurance markets are "highly concentrated," meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurers. This non-competitive market has led to health insurance premiums having more than doubled in the past decade.

Currently, Major League Baseball is the only other entity to enjoy protection from anti-trust laws. As with virtually all other industries, federal agencies could now investigate anti-trust violations in the insurance industry for the first time since the industry was given special immunity 65 years ago.

H.R. 4626 is supported by numerous organizations including the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Center for Justice and Democracy and U.S. PIRG.

The comprehensive health reform measure the House passed last November, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), included a provision to repeal the industry's anti-trust exemption.

Source