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The PPACA, Health Insurance and Antitrust Policy. Professor Herbert Hovenkamp Univ. of Iowa College of Law Innovation, Business and Law Center September 30, 2010. Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1.
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The PPACA, Health Insurance and Antitrust Policy Professor Herbert Hovenkamp Univ. of Iowa College of Law Innovation, Business and Law Center September 30, 2010
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §1 • Every contract, combination … or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States … is declared to be illegal…..
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §2 • Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize… any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty….
MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT (1945) • 15 U.S.C. §1012 • (a): The business of insurance, and every person engaged therein, shall be subject to the laws of the several States which relate to the regulation or taxation of such business.
Mccarran-Ferguson Antitrust Immunity • (b) No Act of Congress shall be construed to invalidate, impair, or supersede any law enacted by any State for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance … unless such Act specifically relates to the business of insurance: Provided, that [the antitrust laws] shall be applicable to the business of insurance to the extent that such business is not regulated by State Law.
McCarran-Ferguson Boycott Exception • 15 U.S.C. §1013: • (b) Nothing contained in this chapter shall render the Sherman Act inapplicable to any agreement to boycott, coerce, or intimidate, or act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation.
“The Business of Insurance” • Union Labor Life Ins. Co. v. Pireno, 458 U.S. 119, 129 (1982), drawing from Group Life & Health Ins. Co. v. Royal Drug Co., 440 U.S. 205, 219-20 (1979)) • “first, whether the practice has the effect of transferring or spreading a policyholder's risk; • second, whether the practice is an integral part of the policy relationship between the insurer and the insured; • third, whether the practice is limited to entities within the insurance industry.”
“Business of Insurance” - Examples • Rate fixing (“Rate Bureaus”) • Product Standardization (“Forms Development”) • Vertical Integration and Tying (Provider Agreements: Royal Drug vs. Customer Supply Agreements: Ocean State) • Market Division (Forms Development vs. Customer Allocation (Insur. Brokerage case)
Exchanges • Number of Sellers; Easy Entry • Informational Balance; Knowledgeable Buyers’ Agents • “Unilateral” Conduct • No excessive Limitations on Product Offering or Pricing Discretion