Bill bans exclusive healthcare contracts—but carves out most of them
S. 4027 — Healthy Competition for Better Care Act · Filed by Jon Husted (R-OH) · Introduced Mar 9, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill prohibits health insurance plans and employers from signing contracts with healthcare providers that prevent the plans from steering patients to cheaper or higher-quality providers, or from offering incentives to use specific doctors. It carves out exceptions for HMOs with exclusive physician groups and value-based networks like ACOs. States can grandfather in contracts signed before mid-2020 for up to 10 years if they determine the contract doesn't reduce competition.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is antitrust-focused: it bans exclusive or restrictive contracting between insurers and providers to promote price competition and patient steering. This is substantively an antitrust/competition measure, not a consumer protection or transparency bill per se.
What the text implies
- The broad exception for 'value-based network arrangements' (ACOs, exclusive provider networks, centers of excellence) may swallow the rule's intent—these arrangements often function as exclusive networks that restrict steering, yet are explicitly exempted.
- State grandfathering of contracts signed before June 2019 through December 2020 creates a 10-year safe harbor, potentially preserving many restrictive contracts already in place and delaying competitive effects.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
health insurance plans (increased negotiating flexibility); large employers offering self-insured plans (reduced lock-in to exclusive networks); lower-cost healthcare providers and competing provider networks (reduced barriers to inclusion in pl