AHIP protests repeal of antitrust exemptions for health insurers Consumer Reports hails passage as being good for providers who feel pressured into contract terms that benefit insurers.
, Managing Editor
The Senate on Tuesday voted to amend the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a move that, if signed into law by President Trump as expected, would restore antitrust laws to the business of health insurance.
The House passed the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act on September 21.
The McCarran–Ferguson Act currently exempts the business of health insurance from federal antitrust and competition laws and leaves regulation under state control.
The reform of the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 would ensure that health insurers are subject to the same federal antitrust laws as other industries, according to proponents.
Senate passes bill to repeal insurers federal antitrust enforcement immunity
The front of the United States Capitol building, in Washington D.C., against stormy clouds
The Senate voted in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to repeal insurers federal antitrust enforcement immunity, sending the bill to the president s desk.
The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act would amend the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, which gave insurers federal immunity from antitrust enforcement and delegated primary authority to regulate consolidation in the insurance industry.
The bill allows the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to regulate health insurance markets.
America s Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Matt Eyles said the COVID-19 crisis proved that states should have the flexibility to regulate their own insurance markets.
Congress passes Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act
e-mailPrintShare ADA-supported bill repeals McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption for health insurance companies December 22, 2020 By Jennifer Garvin
Washington The Senate on Dec. 22 voted to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption for health insurance companies by passing HR 1418, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act.
The House passed the bill on Sept. 21. At press time, President Donald J. Trump was expected to sign the bill into law.
The ADA has been a “longtime advocate of this bill that would reform the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 to ensure that health insurance companies are subject to the same federal antitrust laws that nearly all other industries must comply with in the U.S.,” the Association wrote in an email to dental leaders.