I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 494 

To restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business 

of health insurance to protect competition and consumers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2015 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, 

Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. JONES, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

ROE of Tennessee, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 

Mrs. BLACK, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. BABIN, Mr. AUSTIN

SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BENISHEK, and Mr. ROKITA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to 

the business of health insurance to protect competition 

and consumers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Competitive Health 

5 Insurance Reform Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Open, free, and fair competition has made 

2 the United States the strongest economy in the 

3 world. 

4 (2) As a general proposition, Government 

5 should ensure that no industry obtains an unfair 

6 competitive advantage and that the playing field is 

7 equal. The Congress should not play favorites with 

8 certain industries or special interest groups by ex9 empting one group from the general application of 

10 the law. 

11 (3) There is no factual basis supporting any 

12 further exemption of the health insurance industry 

13 from Federal antitrust and unfair competition laws. 

14 (4) Enforcement of these laws is most appro15 priately done through the U.S. Department of Jus16 tice, and in the case of aggrieved individuals through 

17 private actions as set forth in the existing statutes. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

19 It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that health 

20 insurance issuers are subject to the same antitrust and 

21 unfair trade practices laws that all businesses have had 

22 to comply with and to more effectively ensure that these 

23 issuers would be subject to Federal laws against price fix24 ing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the detriment 

25 of competition and consumers. This Act remedies a special 


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1 exemption provided by Congress in 1945 to respond to the 

2 United States Supreme Court decision entitled United 

3 States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, where4 in the Court correctly held that the Federal Government 

5 could regulate insurance companies under the authority 

6 of the commerce clause in the Constitution. This Act 

7 would also retain enforcement of these laws with State and 

8 Federal law enforcement agencies and allow private causes 

9 of action by aggrieved consumers harmed by unfair trade 

10 practices. 

11 SEC. 4. RESTORING THE APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST 

12 LAWS TO HEALTH SECTOR INSURERS. 

13 (a) AMENDMENT TO MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT.— 

14 Section 3 of the Act of March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1013), 

15 commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c)(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, 

18 impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust 

19 laws with respect to the business of health insurance (in20 cluding the business of dental insurance). For purposes 

21 of the preceding sentence, the term ‘antitrust laws’ has 

22 the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section 

23 of the Clayton Act, except that such term includes section 

24 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that 

25 such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘busi2 ness of health insurance (including the business of dental 

3 insurance)’ does not include— 

4 ‘‘(A) the business of life insurance (including 

5 annuities); or 

6 ‘‘(B) the business of property or casualty insur7 ance, including but not limited to, any insurance or 

8 benefits defined as ‘excepted benefits’ under para9 graph (1), subparagraphs (B) or (C) of paragraph 

10 (2), or paragraph (3) of section 9832(c) of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9832(c)) 

12 whether offered separately or in combination with 

13 insurance or benefits described in paragraph (2)(A) 

14 of such section.’’. 

15 (b) RELATED PROVISION.—For purposes of section 

16 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) 

17 to the extent such section applies to unfair methods of 

18 competition, section 3(c) of the McCarran-Ferguson Act 

19 shall apply with respect to the business of health insurance 

20 without regard to whether such business is carried on for 

21 profit, notwithstanding the definition of ‘‘Corporation’’ 

22 contained in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission 

23 Act. 

Æ 


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