Good news! At least one aspect of health reform is moving forward. While work is going on behind the scenes in Washington to craft an overall strategy for passing comprehensive health reform, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proposing quick action on one important provision: stripping insurance companies of their exemption from anti-trust regulation.

A vote on this stand-alone bill could come as early as next week in the House, and would resemble a section of the House health care bill that ends an exemption for health and medical malpractice insurers and grants the federal government more authority to regulate antitrust laws.  The Senate didn’t include an antitrust provision in its health care legislation because Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV.) couldn’t muster the 60 votes needed to include it, but when leaving a recent meeting with Pelosi, Reid said, “We will be happy to look at it.”

Passage of  this bill would enable Democrats to regain some lost momentum on health reform. Democrats say repealing the federal antitrust exemption would drive insurance prices down in regions where one health insurer dominates. Moreover, any Republican not voting in favor will face intense voter scrutiny for protecting the insurance industry.

There’s been opposition to this move from some in the Senate, like Senator Ben Nelson (D- NE), while there has been vocal support from others like, Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D- NY) who said, “I don’t know why anybody would think they should be exempt from anti-trust.”. Anti-trust legislation is not national reform, but it is certainly an important part of holding insurance companies accountable for their practices.

Encourage your senators and representatives to support reform that will protect consumers and keep pushing for broader national health care reform.

(Special thanks to RWV intern, Tina Glick, for contributing to this post).