[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HEALTH CARE INSURANCE INDUSTRY FAIR COMPETITION ACT

  (Mr. KLEIN of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today the House is going to 
consider the Health Insurance Fair Competition Act. This bill will 
level the playing field by repealing the health insurance industry's 
unfair advantage and helping encourage competition by bringing down 
costs for families and businesses.
  Everyone knows that competition drives our economy. Fair competition 
is what encourages innovation, ensures quality service, and drives 
costs down, and that applies to health insurance, too. Unfortunately, 
health insurance companies are exempt from these fair competition 
rules. This is like your neighborhood pharmacy calling up its 
competitor down the street and deciding to set all of their prices at 
the exact same amount. You can't do that. It's not fair to consumers, 
and no other business in the United States is allowed to act that way. 
What's fair for every other business in this country is certainly fair 
for the health insurance industry.
  Today's bill makes commonsense changes, and I look forward to voting 
for it to make sure health insurance companies can no longer get away 
with price-fixing and other anti-competitive practices. Let's level the 
playing field.

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