II
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1681
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 17, 2009
Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Schumer, and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To ensure that health insurance issuers and medical malpractice insurance issuers cannot engage in price fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the detriment of competition and consumers.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Health Insurance Industry
Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009
.
Purpose
It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that health insurance issuers and medical malpractice insurance issuers cannot engage in price fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the detriment of competition and consumers.
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.
Application to activities of State commissions of insurance and other state insurance regulatory bodies
Nothing in this Act shall apply to the information gathering and rate setting activities of any State commission of insurance, or any other State regulatory entity with authority to set insurance rates.