Index for HR3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

Mr. Dingell (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Waxman, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Stark, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Andrews) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

(a) Amendment to McCarran-Ferguson Act.—Section 3 of the Act of March 9, 1945 (15 U.S.C. 1013), commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), nothing contained in this Act shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to price fixing, market allocation, or monopolization (or attempting to monopolize) by—

“(A) a person engaged in the business of health insurance, in connection with providing health insurance; or

“(B) a person engaged in the business of medical malpractice insurance, in connection with providing medical malpractice insurance.

“(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

“(A) collecting, compiling, classifying, or disseminating historical loss data;

“(B) determining a loss development factor applicable to historical loss data;

“(C) performing actuarial services if doing so does not involve a restraint of trade; or

“(D) information gathering and rate setting activities of a State insurance commission or other State regulatory entity with authority to set insurance rates.

“(3) For purposes of this subsection—

“(A) the term ‘antitrust laws’ has the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act, except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition;

“(B) the term ‘historical loss data’ means information respecting claims paid, or reserves held for claims reported, by any person engaged in the business of insurance; and

“(C) the term ‘loss development factor’ means an adjustment to be made to the aggregate of losses incurred during a prior period of time that have been paid, or for which claims have been received and reserves are being held, in order to estimate the aggregate of the losses incurred during such period that will ultimately be paid.”.

(b) Related provision.—For purposes of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section applies to unfair methods of competition, section 3(c) of the McCarran-Ferguson Act shall apply with respect to the business of health insurance, and with respect to the business of medical malpractice insurance, without regard to whether such business is carried on for profit, notwithstanding the definition of “Corporation” contained in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

(c) Related preservation of antitrust laws.—Except as provided in subsections (a) and (b), nothing in this Act, or in the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term “antitrust laws” has the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act, except that it includes section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to the extent that such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition.