In an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney endorsed a House bill that would repeal the antitrust exemption that health insurers enjoy, and said it could inject competition into the insurance industry.

“Whenever you have anybody with an enormous amount of market share, whether it’s 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent of the product sales in a particular market, that tells us that market is probably not competitive,� Varney told Bloomberg.

Varney testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last October about repealing the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson law that exempts insurance companies from some federal antitrust scrutiny, but stopped short of endorsing any legislation then.

Now she told Bloomberg that the bill would “hopefully… introduce more competition.”

“Anytime an industry or a sector of the economy enjoys immunity from a law, they behave differently than if they have to compete,â€� she said.

The House on Wednesday passed legislation to repeal the exemption for health insurers, but the matter faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The bill was previously part of broader health overhaul package in Congress, but House leaders targeted the antitrust exemption for stand-alone treatment once reform efforts stalled.

In the Bloomberg interview, Varney rated her performance and told Bloomberg she was somewhat more aggressive than antitrust regulators in the Bush administration, grading herself at a “four or five” if the previous Justice Department was a “two or three.”

(Here is our interview with her predecessor, Tom Barnett, who said antitrust enforcement has changed much with the new administration.)

When Varney took over at the Antitrust Division last year, she gave several speeches announcing that she would step up antitrust scrutiny and hinted that she would challenge more conduct than the previous administration had.

But in the first big test for Obama’s Justice Department, the merger between ticket giant Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation, Varney approved the deal last month with some conditions. The approval prompted some critics to say that her bark might be worse than her bite. Responding to that charge, Varney told Bloomberg:

“Having a big bark is not a bad thing,� she said. “When I was growing up, the people across the street had this big huge German Shepherd named Missy and nobody went on Missy’s lawn because of her bark. I can’t tell you whether or not Missy would have ever bit anyone, but she certainly deterred some trespassing.�

Read the whole interview here.

Michael J. Sullivan (Ashcroft Sullivan)

The Boston Globe today mentioned former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan (R) as a possible Republican candidate for the state’s open Senate  The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) late Tuesday means the Bay State will see its first competitive Senate since Sen. John Kerry (D) won election in 1984, the Globe reported.

Sullivan served as U.S. Attorney for most of President George W. Bush’s two terms, from September 2001 until April 17.  He is now a partner at The Ashcroft Group, headed by former Attorney General John Ashcroft. Sullivan was previously the district attorney in Plymouth County, Mass., and he also served in the state house.

However, it’s unlikely a Republican will win the seat in heavily Democratic Massachusetts. If Sullivan ran, it would be more of a favor to the party than as a viable candidate, The Globe indicated. “The party could try to persuade former US Attorney Michael Sullivan to seek the post, but his close association with the Bush administration could burden his candidacy,” The Globe wrote.

As he suffered the final stages of brain cancer, Kennedy last week sent a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick (D) and state lawmakers asking for a change in state law to allow the governor to appoint his replacement, The Associated Press reported. Kennedy had sought to have his seat filled quickly so Democrats would have another vote in Congress for health care reform, one of Kennedy’s signature issues.

Sen. Ted Kennedy

But it doesn’t seem Massachusetts lawmakers are inclined to change the law, which requires the governor to call a special election within 145 to 160 days of the seat becoming vacant, The Associated Press reported. The special election must be held within five months, preceded by a primary five or six weeks before the election.

In addition to Sullivan, others Republicans mentioned as candidates for Kennedy’s seat include state Sen. Scott Brown, businessman Jeff Beatty, former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Chris Egan, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Cooperation and Development, The Associated Press reported.

Possible Democratic candidates include Kennedy’s widow Victoria, Kennedy’s nephew former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, former Rep. Martin Meehan, Reps. Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, The Globe reported. Reps. Edward Markey, James McGovern and William Delahunt also have been mentioned as possible candidates.