“My bill creates incentives for real competition in health care to reduce costs for patients.”
WASHINGTON — Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio) introduced the bipartisan Healthy Competition for Better Care Act, which aims to ban anticompetitive clauses in health care contracting between payers and health care providers and hospitals.
The Healthy Competition for Better Care Act enables transparency in health care and ends anti-competitive practices by removing restrictions that stifle competition in health care markets.
Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Donald Davis (D-N.C.) and Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) introduced a companion bill to the Healthy Competition for Better Care Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The cost of health care has outpaced inflation for more than two decades. That is a staggering fact that Americans feel. My bill creates incentives for real competition in health care to drive down costs for patients,” said Husted.
“Americans are paying too much for too little health care. My Healthy Competition for Better Care Act cracks down on anti-competitive practices, removes unnecessary restrictions, and gives patients the freedom to find better-quality and lower-cost care. This bipartisan legislation puts hardworking families first, ensures fair competition, and puts patients, not bureaucrats, back in charge of their health care,” said Arrington.
“I have often said that the best way to lower health care costs for hardworking Americans is to enhance competition in the marketplace. For too long, anti-competitive practices have driven up premiums and out-of-pocket costs while simultaneously limiting consumers’ ability to choose the health care plan that meets their needs. The Healthy Competition for Better Care Act proposes comprehensive reforms to improve our flawed system by increasing transparency, fostering greater competition, expanding access to quality care, and lowering skyrocketing health care costs. I thank Representative Arrington for his leadership on this legislation and look forward to its consideration by the Education and Workforce Committee,” said Allen.
Statement of support for the Healthy Competition for Better Care Act:
“ERIC enthusiastically backs the Healthy Competition for Better Care Act because it enhances transparency, makes health care markets more competitive, and gives patients greater access to high-quality, affordable care. Supporting value-focused contracting helps ensure that employers and their workers can get high-quality care at prices they can afford. We appreciate Senator Husted for championing this bill, and look forward to advancing it to help make health care more affordable for working families,” said Melissa Bartlett, Senior Vice President of Health Policy at The ERISA Industry Committee.
The Healthy Competition for Better Care Act would eliminate four primary examples of anticompetitive contracting between payers and providers:
- All-or-nothing clauses: These force insurance companies to include all providers and hospitals in their network, eliminating their ability to exclude certain specialties or services.
- Anti-steering and anti-tiering clauses: These prevent employers from accessing lower-cost, higher-quality providers.
- Most-favored-nation clauses: These mandate certain insurers get the best price, leading to overall higher prices across the board.
- Gag clauses: These ban providers from sharing certain cost information with employers, making it harder for patients to compare costs.
Full text of the bill is available here.