As ordinary Americans struggle with real life choices in our struggling economy, health insurance is unfortunately one of the big-ticket items many cannot afford. I wonder if most people have any idea that the wealthy health and medical malpractice insurance industry has enjoyed an antitrust exemption for over 50 years?
Top Democratic lawmakers have filed legislation to repeal that exemption and subject those insurers to laws that forbid price fixing, bid rigging and dividing markets between themselves. Republicans have promised, as expected, to fight the legislation tooth and toenail. Industry analysts predict an ugly and uphill battle to repeal the exemption.
Democrats cite the alarming steady rise in costs of health insurance premiums as the reason for the proposed repeal. Patients and doctors are paying the price while insurers continue to prosper. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report released last week found that U.S. workers who get health insurance through their employers have seen their premiums more than double in the last decade.
When will the politicians stop protecting the insurance industry and pass legislation that will help the people they represent? The well-funded insurance lobbyists are busy as we speak maneuvering behind the scenes to protect their corporate clients, so the consequences of never-ending and skyrocketing health care costs continue to fall squarely on the backs of working Americans.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
