January 19, 2021 3:25 a.m.

Congressman Peter DeFazio has announced that the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act was signed into law late last week.

DeFazio said the bill promotes access to affordable health care by increasing transparency and enhancing consumer protections in the health insurance industry.

A release said the legislation will ensure that health insurance issuers are subject to the same federal antitrust laws prohibiting unfair trade practices, such as price fixing and collusion, as virtually every other industry in the economy.

The bill amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to restore the application of federal antitrust laws to the health insurance industry. DeFazio said it does not interfere with or impact the authority of state authorities to regulate health insurance provided under that Act. DeFazio claims the bill will help address instances of artificially higher premiums, unfair insurance restrictions and harmful policy exclusions.