Conyers Announces Committee Vote on Bill to Promote Health Insurance Competition

Friday, October 16, 2009

Conyers Announces Committee Vote on Bill to Promote Health Insurance Competition

(Washington, D.C.) - House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) announced today that the Committee will next week consider a bill to allow the federal antitrust laws to be enforced against price fixing and market allocation conspiracies among health insurers. "These abuses are plainly illegal in other industries, and it does not make sense, when Congress is working so hard to bring meaningful reform to the market in health insurance, that health insurers should continue to be exempted from federal antitrust oversight. This bill is an important complement to the public insurance option in ensuring that American families get the full benefits of choice, affordability, reliability, and quality service that competition brings."

H.R. 3596, the "Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009," was introduced by Chairman Conyers on September 17, 2009. It will be considered by the Judiciary Committee at a legislative markup on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at 10:00 am.