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Reps. Dan Maffei of Syracuse and Eric Massa of Corning, both Democrats, voted with the majority on Wednesday as the House passed the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act. It passed by an overwhelming majority of 406-19.
The act would remove the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies, requiring them to compete fairly and adhere to the same anti-trust laws as other companies.
“For 65 years, the health insurance industry has been legally exempt from anti-trust laws, and the federal government was banned from even investigating evidence of possible collusion,” stated Maffei in a release.
“In the last 14 years alone, there have been 400 mergers among health insurers and now 94 percent of all insurance markets are 'highly concentrated' – meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurance providers.”
Maffei added: “There are only two industries that are exempt from anti-trust laws — the insurance industry and major league baseball. I don’t think the insurance industry needs the same treatment as our national pastime, and their record profits certainly show they’re doing just fine.”
Reps. Dan Maffei of Syracuse and Eric Massa of Corning, both Democrats, voted with the majority on Wednesday as the House passed the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act. It passed by an overwhelming majority of 406-19.
The act would remove the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies, requiring them to compete fairly and adhere to the same anti-trust laws as other companies.
“For 65 years, the health insurance industry has been legally exempt from anti-trust laws, and the federal government was banned from even investigating evidence of possible collusion,” stated Maffei in a release.
“In the last 14 years alone, there have been 400 mergers among health insurers and now 94 percent of all insurance markets are 'highly concentrated' – meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurance providers.”
Maffei added: “There are only two industries that are exempt from anti-trust laws — the insurance industry and major league baseball. I don’t think the insurance industry needs the same treatment as our national pastime, and their record profits certainly show they’re doing just fine.”
