House Committee Plans Hearing on Anticompetitive Practices in Health Care Markets
On April 29, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law is holding a hearing at 1:00 pm (ET) entitled "Treating the Problem: Addressing Anticompetitive Conduct and Consolidation in Health Care Markets."
The Subcommittee has yet to release the details regarding specific topics or witnesses that will be examined during the hearing. The committee will likely review the work underway by federal agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, to enforce the full range of federal antitrust laws against health insurance companies.
The issue of health care market antitrust efforts has become more prominent following the January enactment into law of the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (H.R. 1418), which repealed the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption granted to the health insurance industry.
Impact on General Dentistry: The AGD was a longtime supporter of the effort to reform McCarran-Ferguson to eliminate the health insurance industry's exemption. AGD is hopeful that this Congressional hearing will meaningfully contribute to the discussion on efforts to create a better dental plan marketplace to benefit consumers and providers that have been left susceptible to unfair price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation.
The Subcommittee has yet to release the details regarding specific topics or witnesses that will be examined during the hearing. The committee will likely review the work underway by federal agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, to enforce the full range of federal antitrust laws against health insurance companies.
The issue of health care market antitrust efforts has become more prominent following the January enactment into law of the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (H.R. 1418), which repealed the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption granted to the health insurance industry.
Impact on General Dentistry: The AGD was a longtime supporter of the effort to reform McCarran-Ferguson to eliminate the health insurance industry's exemption. AGD is hopeful that this Congressional hearing will meaningfully contribute to the discussion on efforts to create a better dental plan marketplace to benefit consumers and providers that have been left susceptible to unfair price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation.