Louise Slaughter

Great news today for the average American as the House of Representatives passed a bill to end the health insurance industries era of so called ‘price fixing’ – the bill being supported by the prominent Western New York Democrat Louise Slaughter.

Louise Slaughter

The anti-trust laws that have, according to some analysts, allowed the health insurance industry in the United States to supposedly engage in price fixing date back almost sixty years. They were revoked/ modified today by a margin of 406 to 19 which is conclusive to say the least.

Slaughter commented on the reasons behind the law change by saying,” As it stands now, the insurance industry is able to fix prices and engage in other anti-competitive behavior, because these companies are allowed to pool and share data … There is very little prospect for the average family to price shop.”

To summarise for the layman: essentially the law changes will make it more difficult, and perhaps illegal, for health insurance companies to collude behind consumer’s backs, share details and generally act in a non-competitive manner. In essence health insurance may become cheaper.

Louise Slaughter who has been integral in this law change was born August 14, 1929 and been a member of the House of Representatives since the late 1980s.