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The Obama administration announced its support Tuesday for a bill by Rep. Betsy Markey to end antitrust exemptions for health insurance companies.

“The president announced the administration’s strong support for repealing the antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by health insurers because, at its core, health reform is all about ensuring that American families and businesses have more choices, benefit from more competition and have greater control over their own health care,” White House spokesman Adam Abrams told the Coloradoan.

“The president believes we need to set some common-sense rules of the road to make competitive markets work for families and help rein in the soaring cost of health care, and he appreciates Congresswoman Markey’s efforts to do just that.”

President Barack Obama has said in the past that repeal should be studied, but Tuesday’s announcement was the first time he has endorsed an end to the antitrust exemption.

The House is scheduled to vote today to repeal the exemption, which has been in place since 1945. Insurance companies and Major League Baseball are the only two businesses with sweeping exemption from antitrust laws.

Markey, D-Fort Collins, and Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., introduced the repeal earlier this month as part of an effort by Democrats to pass parts of the stalled health-reform initiative.

“I’m very pleased to have backing from both the president and our own attorney general here in Colorado. Support for this bill cuts across party lines, and is the kind of common ground, common sense reform we’ve been working toward,” Markey said. “Having competition in our health insurance market benefits consumers, and I hope to have bi-partisan support for this bill in the House.”

The Markey-Perriello bill has 64 other co-sponsors, all Democrats. Markey has said she hopes to gain some Republican votes for the bill, which almost certainly has enough Democratic support to pass the House. Senate prospects are less certain.

The House version of health-care reform included the antitrust exemption repeal, but the Senate version did not.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, was among 47 attorneys general from across the country to support a 2007 resolution by the National Association of Attorneys General to repeal antitrust exemptions for health insurance companies.

“To the extent the legislation conforms with or tracks alongside this resolution, the attorney general would be in support of it,” Suthers spokesman Mike Saccone said.

Republicans such as former Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and former Rep. Bobby Jindal, the current Louisiana governor, have proposed repeal or modification of the antitrust exemption in past congressional sessions.

The insurance industry has said the repeal is unnecessary.

“Enforcement of insurance is conducted at the state level because insurance is regulated at the state level. This bill will add another layer of duplicative oversight that in the end will cost consumers,” said Ben McKay, senior vice president of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the impact on health insurance premiums of repealing the exemption “is likely to be quite small.”

The Congressional Research Service issued a report last month saying repeal could lead to a number of lawsuits challenging current insurance practices. One unintended effect, according to the CRS, could be to drive some small insurers out of business and lead to greater consolidation in the insurance industry.

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Tags: Health insurance, Insurance