I
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5838
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 18, 2012
Mr. Conyers introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit anti-competitive activities and to provide that health insurance issuers and medical malpractice insurance issuers are subject to the antitrust laws of the United States, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Health Insurance Industry Antitrust
Enforcement Act of 2012
.
Prohibition of anti-competitive activities
Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
nothing in the Act of March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1011 et seq., commonly known as
the McCarran-Ferguson Act
), shall be construed to permit health
insurance issuers (as defined in section 2791 of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300gg–91)) or issuers of medical malpractice insurance to engage in
any form of price fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations in connection with
the conduct of the business of providing health insurance coverage (as defined
in such section) or coverage for medical malpractice claims or actions.
Restoring the application of antitrust laws to health sector insurers
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:
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. 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.
.
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.