Discovery Health Medical Scheme asks authority to dismiss Afrocentric claim
Afrocentric Health has told the Competition Commission that Discovery Health and Discovery Health Medical Scheme were engaging in anticompetitive behaviour
Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) asked the Competition Commission on Thursday to dismiss Afrocentric Health’s complaint that it is undercutting competitors, contending it lacked merit. Afrocentric, Medscheme’s holding company, claimed that since 2014, DHMS and its administrator, Discovery Health, had been unfairly negotiating low rates with hospital groups, disadvantaging all other medical aid schemes and contravening the Competition Act. Discovery Health has a 54% market share, with nearly 3-million clients. It administers 15 medical schemes, with DHMS being its biggest client. Discovery Health denied the allegation, saying it did not disclose a cause of action, lacking any substance to show that section 4.1 of the act had been contravened. The firm argued the act only prohibited practices between competitive firms in a horizontal relationship with each other. Discovery Health claimed their relationship with member schemes was vertical. A 2004 commission ruling stipulates sch...
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