Bipartisan legislation introduced to repeal McCarran-Ferguson Act

Bipartisan legislation was introduced on February 28 this year in the U.S. House of Representatives calling to abolish the McCarran-Ferguson Act’s antitrust exemption for health insurance companies.

The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act was tabled by Rep. Peter DeFazio, Oregon, Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS, Arizona, and eight co-sponsors in the 116th Congress.

Jeffrey M. Cole, president of the American Dental Association (ADA), expressed his concern on how “the health insurance industry has been permitted to avoid accountability for so long under the laws and standards that govern other aspects of American business.” He added that the degree to which the McCarran-Ferguson Act has negatively impacted dentists and patients would only be known after its repeal.

The ADA had been lobbying to repeal the Act for more than two decades and commended Congress for standing for the legislation.

According to a statement by the ADA, the bill is limited in its scope and applies only to health insurance including dental insurance. The association hoped that in the event the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act becomes law, anticompetitive health insurance companies will no longer be able to dodge enforcement of federal antitrust laws by the Dept. of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission. The bipartisan legislation expressly calls for federal agencies to give states a free hand in enforcing their antitrust statutes, regulations, and consumer protection laws.

Dr. Brad Barnes of the American Dental Political Action Committee appealed dentists and ADA grassroots members in different states to contact their legislators and voice their support for the bill.