Application of the Antitrust Laws to the Activities of Insurance Companies: Heavier Risks, Expanded Coverage, and Greater Liability

Since 1945 Congress has exempted certain activities of insurance companies from federal antitrust scrutiny. This exemption, provided by the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is not unqualified; it only applies to insurance company activities that constitute the business of insurance and that already are regulated under state law. Moreover, the exemption does not apply to activities that involve boycotts, coercion, or intimidation. The purpose of this exemption was to preserve the long tradition of state regulation of insurance, while providing federal remedies for coercive anticompetitive activities. The authors examine recent Supreme Court interpretations of the Act in light of this legislative policy and conclude that the Court has unduly restricted the scope and application of the Act. They urge the Court to abandon this restricted view and call on Congress to assert its view of the nature and scope of the McCarran-Ferguson exemption

Application of the Antitrust Laws to the Activities of Insurance Companies: Heavier Risks, Expanded Coverage, and Greater Liability

Since 1945 Congress has exempted certain activities of insurance companies from federal antitrust scrutiny. This exemption, provided by the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is not unqualified; it only applies to insurance company activities that constitute the business of insurance and that already are regulated under state law. Moreover, the exemption does not apply to activities that involve boycotts, coercion, or intimidation. The purpose of this exemption was to preserve the long tradition of state regulation of insurance, while providing federal remedies for coercive anticompetitive activities. The authors examine recent Supreme Court interpretations of the Act in light of this legislative policy and conclude that the Court has unduly restricted the scope and application of the Act. They urge the Court to abandon this restricted view and call on Congress to assert its view of the nature and scope of the McCarran-Ferguson exemption

A Fresh Catch of Massive Binaries in the Cygnus OB2 Association

Massive binary stars may constitute a substantial fraction of progenitors to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, and the distribution of their orbital characteristics holds clues to the formation process of massive stars. As a contribution to securing statistics on OB-type binaries, we report the discovery and orbital parameters for five new systems as part of the Cygnus OB2 Radial Velocity Survey. Four of the new systems (MT070, MT174, MT267, and MT734 (a.k.a. VI Cygni #11) are single-lined spectroscopic binaries while one (MT103) is a double-lined system (B1V+B2V). MT070 is noteworthy as the longest period system yet measured in Cyg OB2, with P=6.2 yr. The other four systems have periods ranging between 4 and 73 days. MT174 is noteworthy for having a probable mass ratio q<0.1, making it a candidate progenitor to a low-mass X-ray binary. These measurements bring the total number of massive binaries in Cyg OB2 to 25, the most currently known in any single cluster or association.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Analyzing point of care tools through faculty, resident, and stakeholder buy-in: a cautionary tale

Purpose: Costs for Preston Medical Library’s primary point-of-care (POC) clinical tool have increased to half of the acquisitions budget, while user affiliation data have not been provided to facilitate cost sharing. In response, user preferences for POC tools were analyzed to determine a viable, less expensive alternative to the current subscription. Setting/Participants/Resources: Faculty and residents at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine (GSM), and other clinical staff at the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC), a 685-bed teaching hospital. Methodology: At the direction of school leadership, a working group of library staff, resident physicians, and medical faculty members was appointed, and data were gathered through individual user surveys of clinical support tools. Three POC tool options were considered. Select clinicians evaluated the tools using a series of questions individually chosen as typical to their disciplines. Additionally, feedback was sought from other AAHSL institutions regarding subscriptions to the tool in question and funding schemes. At the same time, the Dean communicated to the medical campus community that cost increases for the product had become prohibitive, requiring consideration of alternatives. Results/Outcomes: Survey responses revealed a strong preference for the incumbent tool, rating PubMed as the second preferred source, but not substitutable. Working group members preferred the current product at POC, judging one of the candidate tools as “adequate” but less user friendly and more time consuming to access. Hospital leadership also received responses from clinical staff. As a result, a cost sharing agreement with the school was forged. Discussion/Conclusion: A deliberative approach to assessing POC clinical tools was used, resulting in continued access to the preferred product. Enhanced data gathering on a go-forward basis will help to ascertain use patterns by academic and hospital users. The library and the other stakeholders will monitor development of alternative POC tools and costs for future decision making