Insurance companies are fighting a proposed amendment to the Senate health care bill that would repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws that prohibit price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation.

Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who has received $536,846 from health insurance companies, has reportedly moved to block the proposed amendment.

According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, health insurance companies have donated $17.5 million - an average of $176,574 per U.S. senator - since 1989 to current members of the Senate, who will likely vote on the amendment in the coming days.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has received $195,150 from the insurance industry during the same period, and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) has received $108,125.

Source: OpenSecrets.org