The U.S. House of Representatives voted February 24 to subject health insurance companies to federal antitrust regulations. The bill, which passed 406-19, leaves intact exemptions from the act for malpractice liability insurers.
Repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a 1945 law that exempts insurance from many aspects of federal antitrust regulation, has been among the top legislative priorities of the ADA and the Academy of General Dentistry.
The repeal would result in increased competition among insurers, bringing down premiums, according to advocates. Opponents, however, say that the exemption actually increases competition by allowing small insurance companies to make use of actuarial data collected by larger companies.
An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that repealing McCarran-Ferguson would have "no significant effects on either the federal budget or the premiums that private insurers charged for health insurance."
A bill to overhaul the nation's healthcare reform that passed in the House last year would have ended the exemption for malpractice liability insurers and health insurers, but similar legislation passed by the U.S. Senate took no action on the issue. President Barack Obama on February 23 spoke in favor of the House bill.
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