A coalition of healthcare professionals has urged the government to abandon its plans for a collective bargaining scheme for private healthcare providers, saying its proposal is legally flawed and won’t reduce costs.

Last month, trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau published draft regulations to the Competition Act that propose granting medical schemes and some private healthcare providers an interim block exemption to the act’s prohibition on collective bargaining. The draft regulations, which exclude private hospitals, also propose establishing a multi-lateral tariff negotiating forum overseen by the health department...

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