The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 3596, the “Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009,” sponsored by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., committee chairman. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced a companion bill, S. 1681, and a hearing is scheduled for next week.
The purpose of H.R. 3596 and S. 1681 is to ensure that health insurance issuers and medical malpractice insurance issuers cannot legally engage in price fixing, bid rigging or market allocations to the detriment of competition and consumers. These bills aim to partially repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act.
Though neither H.R. 3596 nor S. 1681 would benefit independent automotive repairers directly, H.R. 1583, co-sponsored by Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., would repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act and impact property and casualty insurers. H.R. 1583, the “Insurance Industry Competition Act of 2009,” encompasses all of the insurance industry, as opposed to just the health sector.
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) supports H.R. 1583 because:
• A competitive marketplace will only enhance consumers’ options.
• The state insurance regulatory structure has failed for consumers and collision repairers. After years of complaints, many states lag in addressing important consumer and small business property and casualty issues, including consumer steering, insurer pressure to use inferior auto parts and paint caps. These problems are increasing for consumers and repairers, not decreasing.
“ASA has talked with members of the House supporting a more broad repeal of McCarran, and there is interest in expanding the scope of these bills. This is an opportunity for consumers and small businesses that has not been available in more than a decade,” said Bob Redding, ASA Washington, D.C., representative. “Without more federal involvement in insurance regulation, it will be increasingly difficult to resolve many important issues for collision repairers.”
To view text of these proposed bills, go to ASA’s legislative Web site at www.TakingTheHill.com.
