Gohmert: Won’t ‘Solve Anything’ to Buy Health Insurance Across State Lines — Eliminate Antitrust Exemption Instead

Monday on Rush Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated radio show, fill-in host Ken Matthews asked Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) what needed to be done to motivate congressional Republicans to pass President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Gohmert urged listeners to call their members of Congress and named tax reform and health care as two of the specific policies agenda items that needed attention. However, during his response, Gohmert explained why allowing health insurance to be purchased across state lines was not a cure-all for costs and that a focus on repealing certain exemptions granted to health insurance providers during World War II was needed.

“Let me also say, it is not going to solve anything just to buy across state lines,” Gohmert said. “Because originally I thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.’ That’s the insurance companies – the biggies that are saying that. Because think about it – in Texas, we’re cheaper than California and New York. So what’s going to happen? They’re going to come buy Texas policies. Our rates will go up in Texas as claims are filed. They’ll come down in California, and we’ll have equalized across the country.”

“The one thing that will really help and we finally got it brought to the floor and voted on – they said it may not pass – and it passed with over 400 votes is to eliminate the exemption that health insurance companies have had since World War II days that exempts them from antitrust laws, exempts them from monopoly laws,” he added. “We got to get rid of that. Then we can have real competition.”

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