DeLauro Votes for Fairness in Health Insurance Marketplace

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) voted today to pass the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, which will ensure that American families get a real choice and a fair deal when they purchase their health insurance.

The bill will eliminate the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies, an advantage they have enjoyed for 65 years, and will require them to compete fairly and adhere to the same anti-trust laws as the rest of the marketplace. These companies will be legally responsible for practices such as price fixing, collusion, and monopolies—actions that have been outlawed in other industries for decades.

In Connecticut, according to a 2007 report by the American Medical Association, the two largest insurers in Connecticut control 66 percent of the state market.

The legislation is supported by numerous groups, including the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Center for Justice and Democracy, and U.S. PIRG.

Congresswoman DeLauro submitted the following statement to the record in support of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, this past summer, in my home state of Connecticut, Anthem tried to raise health insurance premiums by up to 32%. Right now, in California, the same company is trying to pull the same trick –trying to increase their rates by as much as 39%.

Unfortunately, we now know that the top five insurers in America saw record-breaking profits in 2009. We have seen increases in profits of 91% at Wellpoint, and a whopping 346% at Cigna.

How is this happening, in the midst of an historic recession? A lot of reasons, and central among them the fact that, according to long-established antitrust standards, there is no real competition in the insurance market today. In fact, there have been more than 400 mergers among health insurers in the past 14 years. So, insurers get away with price-gouging mainly because they can.

We have coddled this industry far too long. It is time to remove insurers' special antitrust exemption and to make them play on the same level playing field as every other business in America. I hope that all my colleagues who consistently espouse the virtues of a free market will join us in passing this bill today.