DeGette Applauds Committee Approval of Health Care Antitrust Legislation
"It is outrageous that health insurance companies are exempted from antitrust laws while the American consumer continues to see their health care costs rise," said DeGette. "There are many locations across the country that lack real competition in the health care market. In Pueblo, Colorado, for instance, one health insurance company controls over 75 percent of the market. Repealing this exemption will help inject much needed competition and hopefully rein in costs. I look forward to working with my colleagues, including Chairman Conyers, to include this in the comprehensive health care legislation currently moving through the House."
Key provisions of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act will repeal the federal antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies for flagrant antitrust violations, including price-fixing, bid rigging, and market allocations, and subject health insurers and medical malpractice insurers to the same good-competition laws that apply to virtually every other company doing business in the United States.
Chairman John Conyers, U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Hank Johnson introduced the measure in the House, while Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont has introduced it in the Senate.