The House of Representatives have just voted on the bill by Tom Periello of VA to repeal the Insurance Industry's Anti-Trust Exemption.
The bill passed as expected, but it passed by 406-19(!).
House and Antitrust exemption repeal
The House has voted to repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws, giving Democrats an easy win on health care a day ahead of President Barack Obama's bipartisan health summit.
The vote was 406-19, with most Republicans siding with majority Democrats against a widely unpopular industry which has been under attack by Democrats and consumer advocates for recent rate hikes.
Republican lawmakers complained, though, that the legislation passed Wednesday was largely symbolic and would have little real impact since states already regulate health insurers.
This is a great victory. I didn't expect that the House would get that many votes. I think the likelihood that it's going through the Senate have just increased tenfold and If I were Harry Reid, I would attach this to the jobs bill that would be voted on in the next iteration.
Again, Great vote for the House and a victory going into the Health Summit tomorrow!
For a list of those who voted for it: House Vote Link
UPDATE: Some side news. For the Healthcare Summit tomorrow, Obama personally invited Olympia Snowe and SHE DECLINED. I don't care what you think, but that was bloody brilliant. He just cast the republicans as intransigent without the meeting ever starting.
Here's her statement via Chuck Todd's Twitter Account:Twitter account of Chuck Todd
UPDATE II: Boehner officially invites STUPAK to the health summit. Why? He wants to turn this into a referendum on abortion.
Boehner wants to invite Stupak