Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act

Dear [Dredd],

Last fall I wrote you about the sweetheart deal insurance companies have had since they were exempted from federal antitrust laws in 1945. Shielded from this scrutiny, the exemption has helped the insurance industry to put profits before people, cherry-pick customers, and deny coverage to patients when they fall ill.

They've had a great setup. Last year alone, the top five U.S. health care insurance companies made $12 billion in profits while dropping 2.7 million Americans from their insurance rolls.

Thank you for joining more than 43,000 LeahyforVermont.com community activists to write Congress, urging your representatives to eliminate the antitrust exemption and force insurance companies to play by the same, good-competition rules as virtually every other business in America.

Our voices broke through the health insurance lobbyists who seem to be everywhere you look around Washington these days, and TODAY the House of Representatives voted 406-19 to pass its version of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act.

Now it's up to the Senate to take up this bill and send it to President Obama's desk to be signed into law.

Now that the House has passed its version of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, please click here to urge your friends to e-mail their Senators, too.

The health insurance industry should compete on a level playing field just like every other business in America, large and small, so that consumers know that the price they're being quoted is the product of a free and fair marketplace.

Like most Americans I'm frustrated with the slow pace of progress towards comprehensive health care reform, though I remain hopeful we'll get the sweeping reform we need soon.

But it is unclear whether or not the final health care reform bill Congress sends to the President's desk will include a provision to end the health insurance industry antitrust exemption. Even if it does, it could be severely weakened during the final round of negotiations in Congress.

That's why we must act now to pass the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act as a standalone bill.

Now that the House has passed its version of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, please click here to urge your friends to e-mail their Senators, too.

Ending the health insurance industry antitrust exemption will promote competition and consumer choice, though it is not the only reform we need. But it's a critical component of reform, and one I believe is best achieved by passing the House version of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act into law as soon as possible.

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator