I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 911 

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 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. GOSAR 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 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

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

9 the United States the strongest economy in the 

10 world. 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 911 IH

1 (2) As a general proposition, Government 

2 should ensure that no industry obtains an unfair 

3 competitive advantage and that the playing field is 

4 equal. The Congress should not play favorites with 

5 certain industries or special interest groups by ex6 empting one group from the general application of 

7 the law. 

8 (3) There is no factual basis supporting any 

9 further exemption of the health insurance industry 

10 from Federal antitrust and unfair competition laws. 

11 (4) Enforcement of these laws is most appro12 priately done through the U.S. Department of Jus13 tice, and in the case of aggrieved individuals through 

14 private actions as set forth in the existing statutes. 

15 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

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

17 insurance issuers are subject to the same antitrust and 

18 unfair trade practices laws that all businesses have had 

19 to comply with and to more effectively ensure that these 

20 issuers would be subject to Federal laws against price fix21 ing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the detriment 

22 of competition and consumers. This Act remedies a special 

23 exemption provided by Congress in 1945 to respond to the 

24 United States Supreme Court decision entitled United 

25 States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, whereVerDate Mar 15 2010 08:24 Mar 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H911.IH H911

pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 911 IH

1 in the Court correctly held that the Federal Government 

2 could regulate insurance companies under the authority 

3 of the commerce clause in the Constitution. This Act 

4 would also retain enforcement of these laws with State and 

5 Federal law enforcement agencies and allow private causes 

6 of action by aggrieved consumers harmed by unfair trade 

7 practices. 

8 SEC. 4. RESTORING THE APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST 

9 LAWS TO HEALTH SECTOR INSURERS. 

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

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

12 commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

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

16 laws with respect to the business of health insurance (in17 cluding the business of dental insurance). For purposes 

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

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

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

21 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that 

22 such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition. 

23 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘busi24 ness of health insurance (including the business of dental 

25 insurance)’ does not include— 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 911 IH

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

2 annuities); or 

3 ‘‘(B) the business of property or casualty insur4 ance, including but not limited to, any insurance or 

5 benefits defined as ‘excepted benefits’ under para6 graph (1), subparagraphs (B) or (C) of paragraph 

7 (2), or paragraph (3) of section 9832(c) of the In8 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9832(c)) 

9 whether offered separately or in combination with 

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

11 of such section.’’. 

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

13 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) 

14 to the extent such section applies to unfair methods of 

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

16 shall apply with respect to the business of health insurance 

17 without regard to whether such business is carried on for 

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

19 contained in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission 

20 Act. 

Æ 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with BILLS