[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TAKE AWAY ANTITRUST EXEMPTION FROM HEALTH INSURERS

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I remember the bad old days of health 
insurance before the Affordable Care Act. They could refuse to sell you 
a policy if you had ever been sick. They could refuse to renew your 
policy if you got sick. Oh, and they had another thing called 
rescission, where they could put a group of examiners on you and try 
and take away your policy if you got sick, and this happened numerous 
times due to technicalities.
  They can't do those things anymore.
  They had a cap on your benefits. If you had a really expensive 
disease: Oh, sorry, your benefits are exhausted. You just go die now.
  So those things are gone; but if they totally repeal the Affordable 
Care Act, they are likely to come roaring back.
  The Republicans say competition will take care of that. The problem 
is there is no competition in the insurance industry. They are exempt 
from antitrust law. They can and they do collude to set rates, to 
redline people, to decide what States they will sell policies in.
  Therefore, today, I am introducing the Health Insurance Fair 
Competition Act. It would subject the health insurance industry to the 
same laws that apply to every other industry in America--except for 
professional sports are exempt from antitrust law. This is a 
commonsense solution.
  If they can rely on competition, we need competition. There wouldn't 
be any unless we take away their antitrust exemption.

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