Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., who cosponsored legislation that repealed the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption for commercial health insurers, this week asked the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to update them by Aug. 4 on what their agencies have done to enforce the law. Enacted in January, the AHA-supported Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act gave the agencies authority over health insurance markets, previously regulated by states. 

“Decades of consolidation by health insurance brokers has primed the industry for abuse, allowing insurers to exert market power in order to raise premiums, restrict competition, and deny consumers choice,” the senators said in a letter to the agencies. “Since the CHIRA’s passage in January of this year, neither the FTC nor the DOJ has announced major steps to exercise their expanded antitrust enforcement authority under the new law.”
 

Related News Articles

Headline
A new analysis published Aug. 6 by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF found that Health Insurance Marketplace insurers will propose a median premium…
Headline
The Congressional Budget Office today released its estimate of the budgetary effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as enacted. CBO projects the law will…
Headline
Health Insurance Marketplace insurers will propose a median premium increase of 15% for 2026, according to an analysis of preliminary rate filings published…
Headline
The AHA July 3 released the Health Care Plan Accountability Update for the second quarter of 2025. The update covers the latest developments in Medicare…
Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services June 23 announced an initiative coordinated with multiple health insurance companies to streamline prior…
Headline
The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury have certified two more independent dispute resolution entities, bringing the total…