Life Insurance Blog News: Hill Votes To Restore Competition, Fairness In Health Insurance Marketplace

The following information was released by the office of Indiana Rep. Baron Hill:

Last week, Congressman Baron Hill voted to ensure that Hoosier consumers get a real choice and a fair deal when purchasing health insurance. The bipartisan Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, H.R. 4626, will take away the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies, requiring them to compete fairly and adhere to the same anti-trust laws as other companies. H.R. 4626 received overwhelming bipartisan support when it was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

Health insurance companies should not be exempt from the rules by which other companies have to play, Hill said. Hard-working Hoosier families are facing higher premiums, a lower quality of coverage and limited choices all while the insurance companies are jacking up prices and turning record profits. Enough is enough.

For 65 years, the health insurance industry has been legally exempt from anti-trust laws, and the federal government was banned from even investigating evidence of possible collusion. In the last 14 years alone, there have been 400 mergers among health insurers and now 94% of all insurance markets are highly concentrated meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurance providers.

Health insurers that were previously exempt from anti-trust laws will now bear legal responsibility for price fixing, dividing up territories among themselves and sabotaging their competitors in order to gain a monopoly in the marketplace. Such practices have been outlawed in other industries for decades.

Competition is the core principle of our economy, Hill said. And for consumers, its a guarantee of two things: more choices and lower costs. It is the engine that drives economic growth, spurs American innovation and ensures that consumers are getting a fair deal. This bill creates a much-needed and overdue fair health insurance marketplace.

Source: LexisNexis

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