By Robert Reich
New York Times
February 23, 2010

...Rates are soaring all over the country. Insurers have been seeking to raise premiums 24 percent in Connecticut, 23 percent in Maine, 20 percent in Oregon and a wallet-popping 56 percent in Michigan. How can insurers raise prices as much as they want without fear of losing customers? Astonishingly, the health insurance industry is exempt from federal antitrust laws, which is why a handful of insurers have become so dominant in their markets that their customers simply have nowhere else to go. But that protection could soon end...  Read full article

Note: On February 24th the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the insurance industry's antitrust exemption.