Ten days ago freshman Congressman Tom Perriello teamed with Congresswoman Betsy Markey to introduce legislation that will repeal the special anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies and medical malpractice insurance companies. On the surface it looks appealing, after all why should one industry have a special exemption that others do not. That is one of the problems with Washington when legislation is purposed our representatives tend to make exceptions for special interests. I believe that what is good for one is good for all.
This bill that is being introduced is supposed to be short, only two pages, and has bipartisan support. I have requested a copy of the bill but because of the government shutdown caused by the recent snowstorm it has yet to be printed. Others have criticized this bill because they believe that insurance regulation is a state matter and say that this will prevent the insurance companies from exchanging much needed information regarding risk pools. According to the Congressman’s office this bill will not prevent insurance companies from exchanging information in regard to risk assessment. As far as regulation goes it is true that insurance companies are already highly regulated by the states but federal anti-trust laws go back as far as 1890 when the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed.
I am a free market capitalist and believe in as little interference in the marketplace as possible but I also know that some limited amount of regulation is needed. If one industry is exempt from anti-trust regulation then all should be. Perriello claims that this legislation will reduce health insurance costs and save consumers billions of dollars over the next decade. I am not sure how this will work when the cost of insurance is supposed to be directly related to the cost of health care but we shall see. I have contacted three different people to get their perspective on this legislation, a medical professional, a financial consultant and an insurance specialist. These three will hopefully be able to cast some light on this bill. Just because a Democrat has purposed a piece of legislation does not necessarily mean it has no merit, so I will keep an open mind until all the facts are in.
5 Comments
like you, I am trying to find out all I can about this bill.
but be careful: the Dems are trying to put Obamacare thru Congress in piecemeal fashion, so this might be part of it.
and if we thought Perriello represented us, we wouldn’t be trying to field a challenger.
I just spent about twenty minutes speaking to a local physician and although he is no Perriello fan he likes this legislation. The anti-trust exception is very harmful to primary care doctors, who by the way cannot talk to other physicians about what rate insurance companies are reimbursing them at. It is illegal for doctors to discuss this matter among themselves but it is not illegal for insurance companies to discuss this same subject with each other.
There needs to be a level playing field.
I agree whole-heartedly, BRG. I don’t think insurance companies are evil, but I don’t see why our rep’s would put a gag order on doctors running their own practice(small-business) but not on large corporations(lobbyists). Perriello may not have our best interests at heart all the time, but you gotta give credit where its due.
By the way, this is probably part of Perriello gearing up for this fall. He served Pelosi last year, now he has a year to try and make us forget…
Perriello has made some wise decisions lately. Voting against raising the debt ceiling was another good move. I ‘m almost sorry I was going to burn him in effigy. Almost
This idea is not new to Perriello. This same proposal was made during the Senate debates on the health care bill in December!