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S. 12To ensure that any issuer of health insurance and medical

malpractice insurance must be held to standard antitrust lawand regulation, and for other purposes.

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER, 27, 2012

Mr. MENON (for himself and Mr. AKHTAR) introduced thefollowing bill; which was referred to the Committee onCommerce, Science and Technology for a period to besubsequently determined by the Speaker, for consideration ofsuch provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committeeconcerned.

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A BILLTo ensure that any issuer of health insurance and medicalmalpractice insurance must be held to standard antitrust lawand regulation, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of1

Representatives of the United States of America in2

Congress assembled,3

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.4

This Act may be cited as the National Health5

Insurance Antitrust Act.6

SEC. 2. RESTORING THE APPLICATION AND7

ENFORCEMENT OF STANDARD ANTITRUST LAWS TO THE8

HEALTH INSURANCE SECTOR.9

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in the10

Act of March 9, 1945, 15 U.S.C. 1011 et. seq., commonly11

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known as the `McCarran-Ferguson Act', shall be construed to12

permit issuers of health insurance, as defined in section 2791 of13

the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-91), or issuers14

of medical malpractice insurance to engage in any form of price15

fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations in connection with the16

conduct of the business of providing health insurance coverage,17

as defined in such section, or coverage for medical malpractice18

claims or actions.19

(b) Amendment to the McCarran-Ferguson Act- Section 3 of the20

Act of March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1013), commonly known as21

the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is amended by adding at the end22

the following:23

(c) Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, impair, or24

supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with25

respect to the business of health insurance. For purposes of the26

preceding sentence, the term antitrust laws has the meaning27

given it in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act,28

except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal Trade29

Commission Act to the extent that such section 5 applies to30

unfair methods of competition. For the purposes of this31

subsection, the term business of health insurance shall--32

(1) mean health insurance coverage offered by a health33

insurance issuer as those terms are defined in section 9001 of34

the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which35

incorporates by reference and utilizes the definitions included in36

section 9832 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 9832);37

and38

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(2) not include--39

(A) life insu rance and an nuities;40

(B) proper ty or casualt y insurance, including but not lim ited to,41

automobile, medical malpractice or workers compensation42

insurance; or43

(C) any insurance or benefits defined as excepted benefits44

under section 9832(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.45

9832(c)), whether offered separately or in combination with46

products described in subparagraph (A)..47

(c) Related Provision- For purposes of section 5 of the Federal48

Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section49

applies to unfair methods of competition, section 3(c) of the50

McCarran-Ferguson Act shall apply with respect to the business51

of health insurance without regard to whether such business is52

carried on for profit, notwithstanding the definition of53

Corporation contained in section 4 of the Federal Trade54

Commission Act.55

(d) Limitation on Class Actions-56

(1) LIMITATION- No class action may be heard in a Federal or57

State court on a claim against a person engaged in the business58

of health insurance for a violation of any of the antitrust laws59

(as defined in section 3(c) of the Act of March 9, 1945 (1560

U.S.C. 1013), commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson61

Act).62

(2) EXEMPTION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to63

any action commenced--64

(A) by the United States or any State; or65

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(B) by a named claimant for an injury only to itself.66

SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO ACTIONS ADOPTED BY INSURANCE67

REGULATORY BODIES OF THE SEVERAL STATES.68

(a) Nothing in this Act shall apply to the information collection69

and rate setting activities of any State commission of70

insurance, or any other State regulatory entity with authority to71

set insurance rates.72

(b) Following enactment of this Act, the several States shall be73

compelled to immediately revise all conflicting law and policy,74

and adopt law and policy consistent with this Act.75

(c) Any State found to be in violation of this Act, 365 days76

following enactment, shall be subject to direct Federal77

intervention, and may be subject to fines and revocation of78

funding, as determined by the United States Department of79

Justice.80

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