The McCarran-Ferguson Act, which gives states the authority to regulate the “business of insurance,” also exempts the business of insurance from the federal antitrust laws.  There is no justification to exempt the insurance industry from the antitrust laws and federal government oversight. 

The Health Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 will repeal the exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies.  In the midst of the healthcare debate, where so many proposals contemplate how to bring added competition to the health insurance market, this legislation ensures that health insurers and medical malpractice insurers will at least be subject to normal laws of competition.

The Act only repeals the exemption for the most egregious forms of antitrust violations - price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocations.  For those antitrust concerns that would otherwise fall under a litigation-intensive rule of reason analysis, the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption still applies. 

The Act will subject health insurers and medical malpractice insurers to the same good-competition laws that apply to virtually every other company doing business in the United States.  The nation’s competition laws are powerful tools to ensure that consumer welfare is the benchmark for fair and accountable industry practices.  Consumers benefit through lower prices, more choices, and better services.

The Act will not affect the ability of each state to regulate the business of insurance.  The Act ensures that price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation are removed from the federal antitrust exemption.