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House passes Markey-Perriello bill to end monopoly protections for health insurers
The U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 24 voted 406-19 to pass H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, introduced by Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) and Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA). The two-page bill repeals the special anti-trust exemption that health insurance companies have enjoyed since 1945 and will restore competition to the health insurance market to promote affordability, improved quality, and greater consumer choice in health plans. "I'm proud of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for standing up for a common-sense bill," said Markey. "Long ago, the insurance industry got a special deal from Washington. Big health insurance companies could conspire with each other to fix prices, divide territories and never be punished for it. It's wrong, and this bill fixes it--once and for all." "Today, Washington finally took a stand for patients, for the free market, and for common-sense, bipartisan principles of fairness. Today, we sent a simple message: Health insurance companies must compete for business like everyone else," said Perriello. "Working and middle-class families are sick and tired of getting nickel and dimed by these companies while they rack up billions in profit and enjoy their monopoly protection. I applaud my colleagues for standing on the side of consumers over the health insurance companies." Under the legislation, health insurers will no longer be protected from liability for antitrust practices like 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 percent of health insurance markets are "highly concentrated," which means consumers have little or no choice between insurers. During the past decade while this concentrated market has enjoyed its exemption from antitrust regulation, health insurance premiums have doubled. Repealing the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the National Farmers Union, among others. The Obama administration also released a strong statement of support saying, "This bill will benefit the American health care consumer by ensuring that competition has a prominent role in reforming health insurance markets throughout the nation."
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