WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A House of Representatives panel voted Wednesday to approve a plan that would make health and medical malpractice insurance companies subject to antitrust laws.

The bill, which was introduced in both the House and Senate last month, would repeal an exemption granted in 1945 and make health and medical malpractice insurance companies subject to laws that forbid price fixing, bid rigging and dividing markets between them.

The House Judiciary Committee amended its version of the bill to allow companies to work together to compile historical loss data.

Before the vote, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., accused insurance companies of not competing on price and said they had benefited from inefficiencies in the marketplace.

"We're going to eliminate that quirk today," he said.

The Senate version of the bill will be offered as an amendment to health insurance reform legislation, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

"Ending this cozy exemption is another way to strengthen consumer choice through a competitive marketplace," Sen. Leahy added.

An insurance trade group argued insurers were already regulated by states and were already "subject to federal and state antitrust laws."

"Thus, the bills attempt to remedy a problem that does not exist," wrote Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans.

Reports last month found that health insurance costs were going up and would continue to rise.

The Kaiser Family Foundation said the average premium for a company-provided family health insurance plan rose to $13,375 from $5,791 in 1999, a 131% jump.

Separately, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents large U.S. corporations, said per-employee health costs would jump to $28,530 in 2019 from $10,743 currently if nothing is done.

Copyright 2009 Reuters Limited.