Obama backs repeal of health insurers' antitrust exemption

"President Barack Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to strip health insurers of their decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws — hardening his stand against the industry as he tries to revive his stalled health care overhaul," the Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports. "Removing this exemption will allow appropriate enforcement and examination of potential policies that might prove uncompetitve (sic), or might stifle competition," a White House spokesman said. The House could vote on the measure this week (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/23).

"Repeal of the exemption is being considered by the House," USA Today's The Oval reports. "Obama -- a stern critic of some insurance company practices -- made his views known through a Statement of Administration Policy." The new policy "would give American families and businesses, big and small, more control over their own health care choices by promoting greater insurance competition" (2/23).

An earlier Kaiser Health News story explains the exemption and the significance of its repeal (Gold, 2/8).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.