Shea-Porter Votes to Repeal Anti-Trust Exemptions for Health Insurance Companies

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter voted in favor of legislation that she had cosponsored to repeal the health insurance industry’s exemption from federal antitrust laws. H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, passed the House 406 to 19. 

“The days of the health care industry playing by their own rules are about to end,” said Congresswoman Shea-Porter. “With health care costs continuing to skyrocket, and more Americans losing coverage each day, we must protect consumers from unethical practices like price gouging.  Just last week, it was reported that the insurance companies are planning on raising individual premium rates by double-digit percentages, including here in New Hampshire. By increasing competition, this legislation will help lower costs, improve coverage, and benefit consumers.”

The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act by repealing the antitrust exemption health insurance companies receive.  Under this bill, health insurers will be held accountable for price fixing, dividing up territories among themselves, and sabotaging competitors in order to gain a monopoly – all of which are illegal in other industries. 

Approximately 95 percent of health insurance markets in the U.S. are “highly concentrated,” meaning that consumers have little to no choice in choosing an insurer. In New Hampshire, two health insurance companies control 75 percent of the market. From 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums for New Hampshire families increased by 79%. This concentration has created monopolies in many states, and has allowed insurers to hike up costs.

The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act has received broad, bipartisan support and was endorsed by leading law enforcement and consumer groups, including the National Association of Attorneys General, Consumers Union, and the Consumer Federation of America. 

NHDP - Will Ayotte Defend Insurance Companies' Massive Rate Increases?

Kelly Ayotte Has Consistently Opposed Health Care Reform - Will She Fight President's Proposal to Block Excessive Rate Increases by Insurance Companies?

CONCORD - Yesterday, President Obama revealed his comprehensive health care plan, which includes a proposal to give the federal government the ability to block excessive rate increases by insurance companies [New York Times, 2/21/10]. The president's proposal comes after a major insurance giant on the West Coast announced earlier this month that it would be hiking premiums as much as 39 percent [LA Times, 2/14/10].

Republican Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte has opposed health care reform at every step, pushing a misguided GOP plan that would eliminate essential consumer protections and give insurance companies the power to cherry-pick who they cover. Last month she continued courting the insurance industry and right-wing special interest groups and signed the Repeal It! healthcare pledge, promising to repeal health care reform, if elected [Ayotte Release, 1/15/10]. Given her record of opposing reform, will Ayotte fight the president's proposal to keep insurance companies accountable and protect New Hampshire consumers from arbitrary rate increases?

"While New Hampshire's middle class has fought back-breaking premiums and rising health care costs, big insurance companies have enjoyed record profits," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Kelly Ayotte has been their voice in New Hampshire, pushing an agenda that would give them complete control over the health care of our families. Will she once again pick insurance companies over New Hampshire's middle class and fight against the president's proposal to protect Granite State consumers from massive rate increases?"

OFA NH State Director Tim Arsenault on Health Insurance Industry's Efforts to Derail Reform

New Hampshire Organizing for America’s State Director Tim Arsenault released the following statement in response to the news that America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an insurance industry organization, has been soliciting funds from insurance companies to fund negative ads against health insurance reform while the companies publicly claimed to support it.  It is believed that between $10 and $20 million in insurance company funds have been used to support these ads.  Organizing for America (OFA) is a project of the Democratic National Committee committed to supporting President Obama’s agenda for change.

“Our fears have now been realized -- the health insurance companies have been working with their Republican allies in Congress to run a cloak and dagger campaign to kill health insurance reform. This is just another example of how far insurance companies will go to protect their bottom line, even if it means deceiving the American people and denying quality, affordable care to tens of thousands of Granite Staters.

“Insurance companies were able to stop reform of our nation’s health insurance system before, but the OFA volunteers across New Hampshire will not sit idly by and watch them try to block real change. The American people know we need reform now.  That’s why more than 2.5 million volunteers across the country and here in New Hampshire have been working tirelessly to pass real, meaningful and comprehensive health insurance reform. There is still more work to be done, and Organizing for America will continue building support for reform until Granite Staters get the health insurance coverage they deserve.”

Kucinich - Values of Health Care Stocks Increase Fearlessly as Public Option Is Dead

Dear Friends,

Wall Street is celebrating "Health Care Reform." According to an industry insider report yesterday by MarketWatch (Gibson and Britt) health care stocks rallied as the bill moved through the Senate, particularly since there is no public option in the bill to compete or compare with insurance company rate-making.

"Health care investors find themselves having confronted their greatest fear, and, while there will be legislation, it will be significantly watered down ..." said Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC. As a result, shares of Aetna gained 4.7%, while Cigna rose 3.9%. United Health and Wellpoint "rallied to 52-week highs."

Once the bill becomes law, insurance companies will gain at least 26 million new customers and as much as $50 billion in new annual revenue from private-pay and from government subsidies as people will be required by law to purchase private insurance. While certain expenses are capped in the bill, it appears that premium costs are not.

The Senate's move prompted Gregory Nersessian of Credit Suisse to raise his price targets [predicting greater strength of stock performance] on seven insurers: Aetna, Cigna, Amerigroup Corp., Humana Inc., Molina Healthcare Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Wellcare Health Plans Inc.

" ... the [bill] is a positive first step" Nersessian said in a note to clients. "The heavy lifting will come when Congress is forced to slow the rate of medical cost growth through more aggressive payment restrictions and utilization controls down the road," he said - meaning that this particular industry insider is predicting limitations on benefits.

Marketwatch also wrote that none of the new standards on how much the industry must spend on medical expenses will "impose great hardship on any insurers."

Tomorrow: My analysis of the health care legislation as it currently stands.

Sincerely.


NHDP - SB 110: The Last Time New Hampshire Got "KellyCare"

Ill-fated New Hampshire Health Care Bill Let Insurance Companies Cherry-Pick Who to Cover, Causing Rates to Skyrocket by up to 80 Percent

 
CONCORD - In recent weeks Kelly Ayotte has been pushing a GOP establishment-sponsored health care plan that would give insurance companies control over the health care of New Hampshire families. "KellyCare" would do away with essential consumer protection mandates as well as loosen restrictions on insurance companies, allowing them to choose who they want to cover and who would be left without care.
 
"KellyCare" is not the first time Kelly Ayotte has tried to let insurance companies dictate the coverage of families in the Granite State. In 2003, when Ayotte was serving as a top advisor for Governor Benson, the Administration passed SB 110, a disastrous piece of legislation that sought to reform small business health insurance by easing restrictions on insurance companies.
 
The Benson-Ayotte signature health insurance reform bill allowed "insurers to set rates based on rating factors for age, group size, type of industry, geographic location, and health status." In 2005, the Concord Monitor wrote that the bill "allowed health insurance companies to charge sick people many times more money than they charge the young and healthy." [Union Leader, 4/24/03; 4/4/03; Concord Monitor, Editorial, 6/10/05]
 
The Benson-Ayotte team ignored bipartisan criticism against the bill, which warned that giving so much control to insurance companies would devastate small businesses. The critics were accurate: "Under SB110, about 80 percent of businesses that renewed their yearly rates found that they had increases and 45 percent saw their insurance jump 30 percent or more, according to the Insurance Department." In fact, "some saw rates rise by 80 percent." [Concord Monitor, 3/25/05; Concord Monitor, Editorial, 6/10/05].
 
"Kelly Ayotte didn't learn her lesson the last time she listened to insurance companies instead of New Hampshire families," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "New Hampshire already knows what happens when insurance companies run the show - the sick lose coverage, rates for small businesses skyrocket, and families are stuck with back-breaking personal premiums. Despite that, as a candidate for US Senate, Kelly Ayotte is taking a page from the same failed, out-of-touch Republican playbook."
 
SB 110 was significantly backed by Health Insurance Association of America, a predecessor to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry group now dedicated to opposing the current health insurance reform in Congress [Union Leader, 4/24/03].
 
In 2005, the Republican-controlled State Senate twice voted on a bipartisan basis to approve legislation that repealed SB110. The legislation SB125 was signed into law by Governor Lynch [State Senate Vote 16, 3/24/05; State Senate Vote 38, 4/7/05].