Washington, DC - Tomorrow, the House will consider H.R. 4626, the ‘Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act’, which was introduced by Reps. Betsy Markey (D-CO04) and Tom Perriello (D-VA05).  This bill repeals the blanket antitrust exemption afforded to health insurance companies by the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 and restores competition and transparency to the health insurance market.  Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following comments on the bill:

“Since the passage of McCarran–Ferguson in 1945, the health insurance industry has argued their business is not one of Interstate Commerce.  The Markey-Perriello legislation presents us with an excellent opportunity to fill this legal and moral gap in our commercial regulation by assuring a fair and competitive market for our insurance companies.  Requiring the insurance industry to play by the same rules as every other will see healthier competition in the industry.  This will translate directly to cost benefits for consumers, and with the health care crisis looming, this narrowly tailored legislation is exactly the kind of reform we need.  Passage of this bill will put us one significant step closer to real, comprehensive health care reform.  I want to commend Congresswoman Markey and Congressman Perriello for taking the lead in putting together this important bill.”

Under the Markey-Perriello bill, health insurers will no longer be protected from liability for price fixing, dividing up market territories, or bid rigging. In the last 14 years, there have been 400 mergers among health care insurers so that 95% of health insurance markets are “highly concentrated,” which means consumers have little or no choice between insurers. This non-competitive market has played a role in health insurance premiums having more than doubled in the past decade.

 

 

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