Eliminating the antitrust exemption for insurers may have consequences for consumers, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) cautioned during a news briefing.
Boehner was responding to a plan by House Democrats to move a bill to the floor next week that effectively
strips health insurance companies and medical malpractice insurance companies of their antitrust exemption.
Freshmen representatives Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) are scheduled to introduce the legislation on Friday.
This exemption, however, “is very narrow,” Boehner said. Effectively, it allows health insurance companies “to share loss of data so they can accurately predict their rates. I'm having concerns that without this ability, some of these insurers are not going to have enough data to predict what their losses will be and as a result will raise premiums to make sure that they're covered.”
For these reasons, “at this point I'm beginning to wonder what the real purpose is” of introducing this targeted reform bill, Boehner said.
Other lawmakers, House Democrats included, continue to have doubts about a piecemeal approach to reform.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in particular, remains skeptical about the idea of funneling a series of smaller healthcare reform bill through the House, with the assumption they'd make it through the Senate. Without a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, such a bill “may not go anywhere,” though he wouldn't rule out the success of the antitrust bill.
Waxman, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is still holding out hope there will be a more comprehensive health reform bill at some point. When asked if that option was still on the table, Waxman responded, “yes, absolutely.”
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