The Reuters news agency reports there is legislation introduced in the House and Senate that would at long last end the antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies. This comes in the midst of a vigorous, to say the least, debate over health care reform and concerns about health premiums rising far faster than the rate of inflation. Here are excerpts from the article:
The bill, introduced by the chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives Judiciary Committees, would repeal an exemption granted in 1945 and make health insurance and malpractice insurance companies subject to antitrust laws that forbid price fixing, bid rigging, and dividing markets between them.
A separate report released on Tuesday found that U.S. workers who get health insurance for their families through their employers have seen their premiums more than double in the last decade.
The Kaiser Family Foundation said the average premium for a company-provided family health insurance plan rose from $5,791 in 1999 to $13,375, a 131 percent jump.
Separately, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents large U.S. corporations, said per-employee health costs would jump to $28,530 in 2019 from $10,743 currently if nothing is done.
