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 fol-
lowing 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Competitive Health 
Insurance Reform Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Open, free, and fair competition has made 
the United States the strongest economy in the 
world. 
(2) As a general proposition, Government 
should ensure that no industry obtains an unfair 
competitive advantage and that the playing field is 
equal. The Congress should not play favorites with 
certain industries or special interest groups by ex-
empting one group from the general application of 
the law. 
(3) There is no factual basis supporting any 
further exemption of the health insurance industry 
from Federal antitrust and unfair competition laws. 
(4) Enforcement of these laws is most appro-
priately done through the U.S. Department of Jus-
tice, and in the case of aggrieved individuals through 
private actions as set forth in the existing statutes. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that health 
insurance issuers are subject to the same antitrust and 
unfair trade practices laws that all businesses have had 
to comply with and to more effectively ensure that these 
issuers would be subject to Federal laws against price fix-
ing, bid rigging, or market allocations to the detriment 
of competition and consumers. This Act remedies a special 
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exemption provided by Congress in 1945 to respond to the 
United States Supreme Court decision entitled United 
States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, where-
in the Court correctly held that the Federal Government 
could regulate insurance companies under the authority 
of the commerce clause in the Constitution. This Act 
would also retain enforcement of these laws with State and 
Federal law enforcement agencies and allow private causes 
of action by aggrieved consumers harmed by unfair trade 
practices. 
SEC. 4. RESTORING THE APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST 
LAWS TO HEALTH SECTOR INSURERS. 
(a) AMENDMENT TO MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT.— 
Section 3 of the Act of March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1013), 
commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, 
impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust 
laws with respect to the business of health insurance (in-
cluding the business of dental insurance). For purposes 
of the preceding sentence, the term ‘antitrust laws’ has 
the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section 
of the Clayton Act, except that such term includes section 
5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that 
such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition. 
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‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘busi-
ness of health insurance (including the business of dental 
insurance)’ does not include— 
‘‘(A) the business of life insurance (including 
annuities); or 
‘‘(B) the business of property or casualty insur-
ance, including but not limited to, any insurance or 
benefits defined as ‘excepted benefits’ under para-
graph (1), subparagraphs (B) or (C) of paragraph 
(2), or paragraph (3) of section 9832(c) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9832(c)) 
whether offered separately or in combination with 
insurance or benefits described in paragraph (2)(A) 
of such section.’’. 
(b) RELATED PROVISION.—For purposes of section 
5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) 
to the extent such section applies to unfair methods of 
competition, section 3(c) of the McCarran-Ferguson Act 
shall apply with respect to the business of health insurance 
without regard to whether such business is carried on for 
profit, notwithstanding the definition of ‘‘Corporation’’ 
contained in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act. 
Æ 
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