[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E10-E11]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2017

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 3, 2017

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust 
Enforcement Act of 2017 would eliminate the antitrust immunity provided 
under the McCarran-Ferguson Act for price fixing, bid rigging, and 
market allocation by health insurance issuers and medical malpractice 
insurers. The purpose of this bill is to extend antitrust enforcement 
over health insurers and medical malpractice insurance issuers as to 
the most egregious antitrust violations. Such insurers currently enjoy 
broad antitrust immunity under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. This immunity 
has shielded insurance companies for decades for activities that would 
otherwise constitute illegal and grossly anticompetitive conduct. Our 
Nation's antitrust laws exist to protect free-market competition and 
this bill will help to restore competition to the health insurance 
marketplace.
  The House Judiciary Committee held numerous hearings on the effects 
of the insurance industry's antitrust exemption. It has become clear 
that the exemption is not needed to enable the insurance industry to 
provide services to their policyholders, and that policyholders and the 
economy in general would benefit from increased competition among 
insurance providers. Indeed, this is why four members of the Antitrust 
Modernization Commission recommended repealing the McCarran-Ferguson 
antitrust exemption in the Commission's 2007 report. Commissioners 
Jonathan Jacobson, Debra Valentine, and John Warden wrote that the 
exemption has ``outlived any utility [it] may have had,'' and 
Commissioner John Shenefield wrote that it is ``among the most ill-
conceived and egregious examples'' of antitrust exemptions and that its 
repeal ``should not be delayed.''
  The bill I introduce today is intended to root out unlawful activity 
in an industry that has grown complacent by decades of protection from 
antitrust oversight. And, particularly in light of efforts to undermine 
the Affordable Care Act, repealing this unjustified antitrust exemption 
for health insurers will further ensure more affordable health 
insurance for Americans.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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