Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I rise to address the House today in support of my amendment to H.R. 5 to amend the McCarran-Ferguson Act. This act exempts the business of insurance from many Federal antitrust laws. In this modern day and age, it is hard to see why this exemption still persists. One of the original reasons to carve this exemption for the industry, which dates all the way back to 1945, was that insurance companies needed to share actuarial information in order to balance risk when setting premiums. However, since 1945, our Federal law has evolved to include safe harbors to permit companies to share this data as needed. I believe that violations of antitrust law cannot always be dealt with on the State level anymore as cash-strapped States lack the resources to enforce the law against these large, multi-state insurance companies. Therefore, it is time for this exemption to be repealed so that we can empower health insurance companies to compete more aggressively for the consumer dollar, increase competition, increase insurance options, empower patients to a patient-centered system, and they decrease premiums. Therefore, we all win. Lowering the cost of health insurance is a goal we should all share. That is why the House passed a very similar measure, H.R. 4626, with over 400 votes in 2010. There is one key difference between H.R. 4626 and this amendment, a difference of which I am proud.…”