COMPETITION COMMISSION INQUIRY
Health-market inquiry blames private hospitals for ‘driving up costs’
The Competition Commission’s health-market inquiry has cast the spotlight on the role that private hospitals play in driving up healthcare costs, saying they are responsible for a significant portion of the above-inflation increases in expenditure reported by medical schemes. The inquiry was established to investigate the dynamics at play in the private healthcare market and to determine whether there are barriers to effective competition and patient access. Industry players have consistently argued that private healthcare expenditure costs have risen largely as a result of increased utilisation, rather than price hikes. The inquiry published six diagnostic reports on its website on Friday including an extensive analysis of the most comprehensive data set yet compiled for the medical scheme industry. It found medical scheme expenditure rose by an average of 9.24% a year between 2010 and 2014, about four percentage points more than consumer price inflation, which was on average 5.6% ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.