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Law360 (September 21, 2020, 6:27 PM EDT) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday approved bipartisan legislation that would restore the government's ability to charge health insurers under federal antitrust laws and could save Americans billions in health insurance costs.
The House approved H.R.1418, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, by voice vote. The bill, co-sponsored by 26 Democrats and 25 Republicans, amends the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act and places health insurers back under the purview of federal antitrust laws such as the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act.
"This would be a tremendous service to the American people [at] any time in history, but particularly now in times of COVID and crisis," bill sponsor Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon said on the House floor, adding that the legislation would save American consumers "billions of dollars a year in health insurance costs."
"It's about greed and it's time to end," he said, noting that over 5 million people have lost their health insurance during the coronavirus pandemic as insurance companies' profits continue to climb. "This is a vital service for the American people."
Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania said on the floor that there should be "no safe harbor for this conduct" and that the bill is "long overdue."
Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana introduced companion bill S.350 in the Senate in 2019, which was co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Patrick Lahey of Vermont, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and others.
DeFazio called on the Senate to act on the bill.
"Hopefully the Senate will see the wisdom in helping Americans afford health insurance," he said.
The House overwhelmingly passed a nearly identical version of the bill in 2017 after a 416-7 vote. Democrats who opposed the bill at the time challenged the GOP's claim that it would create new competition by allowing cross-state insurance sales because the Affordable Care Act already lets states agree to allow such sales.
Republicans largely touted the bill as a way to protect competition and consumers while Democrats called such claims "exaggerated."
Enacted in 1945, McCarran-Ferguson grants an antitrust exemption to the business of insurance and more broadly gives states the primary authority to regulate the industry. Proposals to partially repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act have surfaced periodically over the years, including during debates over the ACA itself in 2010.
A measure to eliminate the immunity for health insurers passed the House by an overwhelming margin — 406-19 — during the health care reform proceedings in early 2010. Though the effort gained vocal backing from the White House at the time, neither the House measure nor similar proposals ever made it to a vote on the Senate floor. Democrats reintroduced a similar bill in 2013 to no avail.
Health insurance industry groups have long opposed efforts to repeal the protection, describing the immunity as limited and saying it doesn't affect competition among health plans.
--Additional reporting by Eric Kroh. Editing by Marygrace Murphy.
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