Leahy: Stop Health Insurance Monopoly

Senator Leahy email:

"America’s health insurance companies have had a pretty sweet deal for decades.

They can pick and choose their customers and deny coverage to anyone with any sort of pre-existing condition -- even acne. They can get away with dropping your coverage when you get sick.

And since 1945 they have been exempt from the antitrust regulations that apply to nearly every other industry, rules that protect consumers from anti-competitive business practices like price-fixing.

That’s why, as part of our broader health care reform effort, I just introduced legislation in the Senate to eliminate the outdated insurance industry antitrust exemption and force health insurance companies to compete fairly -- like virtually every other business in America.

Please e-mail your members of Congress today, urging them to support the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, S. 1681 and H.R. 3596.

Passing health care reform with an effective public option is one key way to promote competition in the health insurance marketplace, but we must also eliminate the unjustified and unnecessary antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by insurance companies.

A recent study found that one or two insurance giants dominate 94 percent of American health insurance markets, meaning every year consumers end up paying more money for less coverage.

When insurance companies know they don’t have to compete, they don’t. When they know they can get away with raising your premiums every year, they do. And when they know they can deny you coverage without consequence, they'll leave you high and dry.

The Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, which I introduced in the Senate last week, is not the be all and end all of necessary reform, but it is a key way we can give consumers more choice in the health insurance marketplace.

Please e-mail your members of Congress today, urging them to support the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, S. 1681 and H.R. 3596.

It's time for the insurance industry to play by the same good-competition rules as nearly every other industry in America.

I’ve proposed similar legislation in the past, and Congress failed to pass it. So we must redouble our efforts this time around and urge Congress to support it as part of our broader health care reform efforts.

Thank you for emailing Congress today to support this important legislation.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

P.S. The insurance industry is actively lobbying Congress to maintain the status quo -- but the status quo is unacceptable. Let's make sure your Members of Congress know where their constituents stand on the matter: Please email Congress today."

Well said Senator. One wonders how they got away with this plunder for so many years.