Letter to the editor:

Insurers’ antitrust exemption should end

Richard Pratt, Las Vegas

Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.

The Las Vegas Sun’s editorial Thursday on making insurance affordable pinpoints the whole issue of health care reform. The real issue is not the public option — it is the lack of competition in the marketplace. If capitalism works as well as opponents of the public option say it does, why are we even having this debate? Why isn’t competition among privately owned insurers giving us affordable health insurance? The free market system that capitalists cherish so much should already be giving us the most competitive health care prices.

The problem is that there is no “free market” in the insurance industry because it had the foresight to use its influence in 1945 to get Congress to give it a special, statutory exemption from antitrust laws. This exempts insurance companies from prosecution for such antitrust activities as price-fixing, bid rigging and market allocation. Insurance companies also can buy out competitors without the same level of government scrutiny on effects on competition that other industries are subject to.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., asks how to restore competition in the marketplace. A good first step would be to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts the insurance industry from antitrust laws. There is no good reason for the insurance industry to be exempt from these laws. The insurance industry’s conduct is a prime example of why antitrust laws were enacted.

To this end, it surprises me that the Sun editorial failed to mention that Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., have introduced legislation in their respective judiciary committees to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The repeal of McCarran-Ferguson would do more to stimulate competition in the insurance industry than any public option plan would. Why does the insurance industry need the McCarran-Ferguson Act?

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By Birdiedreamin

10/2/09 at 2:56 a.m.

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hey richard...
you are correct to point out that the anti-trust exemption is an issue...
in fact...
it shows you just what scum bags these insurance companies are...
and removing it is necessary...
however...
that still will not solve the problem...
because...
over time...
the competitive forces of a free market...
thru attrition and mergers and acquisitions...
we will wind up with three insurance companies...
an oligopoly...
they will have deep pockets...
they will be able to buy influence yet again...
and we will wind up back in the same mess...
just like the phone companies...
bottom line...
it really is very simple...
you either support the public option...
or...
you support the greedy pig insurance companies and the money grubbing whore doctors...
period...
end of story...
By ecm

10/2/09 at 7:08 a.m.

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Free market? If there are 1600 insurance companies nationwide and only 10 in Nevada, is that a free market?
If they are in the mood to repeal the anti-trust exemptions, could we please include the unions in that legislation?
By News1950

10/2/09 at 7:17 a.m.

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Good morning, my fellow AMERICANS! Another day in the "workers' paradise" envisioned by our leader. A Utopian society with the producers (i.e. WORKERS) provideing homes, cars, education and per diem living expenses for the non-producers (i.e. SHIRKERS). Incidentally, the new unemployment figures indicate 15 MILLION Americans out-of-work. But, the Democrats say the economy is in the "recovery" stages.
Can any SENSIBLE person actually believe ANYTHING Barack Obama or liberal Democrats say or promise about ANYTHING?
By judgesmales

10/2/09 at 7:24 a.m.

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As soon as Obama said his policies brought the economy "back from the brink," he took ownership of Bush's recession. He should have kept quiet, as the next leg down has begun. Did you see today's job-loss report? Ooooh, that has to sting.
By brownln4

10/2/09 at 8:52 a.m.

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And did you see the news - the Great one went to Copenhagen and got no Chicago Olympics. No respect at home and no respect in the rest of the world. A very weak president - should have known the answer before he left and took care of the things at home, like the economy - jobs losses again - instead of fliting around the world on celebrity tours. Great example of a do nothing president. The list goes on and on.
By jlb101

10/2/09 at 11:24 a.m.

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What about the monopoly the government has over us. The dumbest people in the world. Obama heads the list.
By teamster

10/3/09 at 12:29 a.m.

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judge:

The fallout from Bush won't be over anytime
soon. It will take President Obama 8 full years
to fix the mess Bush left us.
By LarryVegas

10/3/09 at 11:21 a.m.

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Obama has four years to try to fix the mess he created...

Obama has lost the independent voters who put him in office.

Saturday, October 03, 2009
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By LarryVegas

10/5/09 at 10:08 p.m.

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I am sorry to inform you all that the Obama administration does not care about any of your health reform concerns.

The Obama administration is ONLY interested in the total government takeover of the health care system.

You see, a government takeover of the health care system advances their socialist agenda.