[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 350 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 350

    To restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the 
   business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 2019

 Mr. Daines (for himself and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the 
   business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Competitive Health Insurance Reform 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. RESTORING THE APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS TO THE BUSINESS OF 
              HEALTH INSURANCE.

    (a) Amendment to Mccarran-Ferguson Act.--Section 3 of the Act of 
March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1013), commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson 
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c)(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, impair, or 
supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to 
the business of health insurance (including the business of dental 
insurance and limited-scope dental benefits).
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to making a 
contract, or engaging in a combination or conspiracy--
            ``(A) to collect, compile, or disseminate historical loss 
        data;
            ``(B) to determine a loss development factor applicable to 
        historical loss data;
            ``(C) to perform actuarial services if such contract, 
        combination, or conspiracy does not involve a restraint of 
        trade; or
            ``(D) to develop or disseminate a standard insurance policy 
        form (including a standard addendum to an insurance policy form 
        and standard terminology in an insurance policy form) if such 
        contract, combination, or conspiracy is not to adhere to such 
        standard form or require adherence to such standard form.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `antitrust laws' has the meaning given it in 
        subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 12), except that such term includes section 5 of the 
        Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 
        such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition;
            ``(B) the term `business of health insurance (including the 
        business of dental insurance and limited-scope dental 
        benefits)' does not include--
                    ``(i) the business of life insurance (including 
                annuities); or
                    ``(ii) the business of property or casualty 
                insurance, including but not limited to--
                            ``(I) any insurance or benefits defined as 
                        `excepted benefits' under paragraph (1), 
                        subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2), or 
                        paragraph (3) of section 9832(c) of the 
                        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 
                        9832(c)) whether offered separately or in 
                        combination with insurance or benefits 
                        described in paragraph (2)(A) of such section; 
                        and
                            ``(II) any other line of insurance that is 
                        classified as property or casualty insurance 
                        under State law;
            ``(C) the term `historical loss data' means information 
        respecting claims paid, or reserves held for claims reported, 
        by any person engaged in the business of insurance; and
            ``(D) the term `loss development factor' means an 
        adjustment to be made to reserves held for losses incurred for 
        claims reported by any person engaged in the business of 
        insurance, for the purpose of bringing such reserves to an 
        ultimate paid basis.''.
    (b) Related Provision.--For purposes of section 5 of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section applies 
to unfair methods of competition, section 3(c) of the McCarran-Ferguson 
Act shall apply with respect to the business of health insurance 
without regard to whether such business is carried on for profit, 
notwithstanding the definition of ``Corporation'' contained in section 
4 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
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