[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 494 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 494
To restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the
business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2015
Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Brooks of Alabama, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee,
Mr. Doggett, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Roe
of Tennessee, Mr. Fleming, Mr. DesJarlais, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Black,
Mr. Mullin, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Babin, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr.
Benishek, and Mr. Rokita) introduced the following bill; which was
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 2015''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Open, free, and fair competition has made the United
States the strongest economy in the world.
(2) As a general proposition, Government should ensure that
no industry obtains an unfair competitive advantage and that
the playing field is equal. The Congress should not play
favorites with certain industries or special interest groups by
exempting one group from the general application of the law.
(3) There is no factual basis supporting any further
exemption of the health insurance industry from Federal
antitrust and unfair competition laws.
(4) Enforcement of these laws is most appropriately done
through the U.S. Department of Justice, and in the case of
aggrieved individuals through private actions as set forth in
the existing statutes.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that health insurance
issuers are subject to the same antitrust and unfair trade practices
laws that all businesses have had to comply with and to more
effectively ensure that these issuers would be subject to Federal laws
against price fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the
detriment of competition and consumers. This Act remedies a special
exemption provided by Congress in 1945 to respond to the United States
Supreme Court decision entitled United States v. South-Eastern
Underwriters Association, wherein the Court correctly held that the
Federal Government could regulate insurance companies under the
authority of the commerce clause in the Constitution. This Act would
also retain enforcement of these laws with State and Federal law
enforcement agencies and allow private causes of action by aggrieved
consumers harmed by unfair trade practices.
SEC. 4. RESTORING THE APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS TO HEALTH SECTOR
INSURERS.
(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). For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term `antitrust
laws' has the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section
of the Clayton Act, except that such term includes section 5 of the
Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that such section 5 applies
to unfair methods of competition.
``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term `business of health
insurance (including the business of dental insurance)' does not
include--
``(A) the business of life insurance (including annuities);
or
``(B) the business of property or casualty insurance,
including but not limited to, any insurance or benefits defined
as `excepted benefits' under paragraph (1), subparagraphs (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.''.
(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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