An article that recently appeared in Business Insurance reported that an effort to remove a key antitrust exemption for health insurers has the property/casualty sector concerned that they could be next.

On Feb. 28, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved HR 372, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2017, by voice vote. The bill would repeal the antitrust exemption featured in the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 for the health insurance sector, while preserving the exemption for auto and property insurance.

According to the article in Business Insurance, Republicans are interested in repealing the provision for health insurance because of the perception that the exemption is one of the reasons why there is alleged collusion in the industry and persistently high health care costs.

“There seems to be a perception that the insurance industry is somehow using this antitrust exemption to engage in all sorts of terrible activity that other people wouldn’t be allowed to engage in under the federal antitrust law,” Robert Woody, senior counsel for policy for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America in Washington told Business Insurance.

To read the full story in Business Insurance, click here.