AFROCENTRIC, the owner of medical scheme administrator Medscheme, has launched a fresh complaint against SA’s largest medical aid provider, Discovery Health, about uncompetitive behaviour.In its 2015 annual report, AfroCentric says it lodged the complaint with the competition tribunal because it noticed a trend “where a number of medical schemes have allowed their administrator to negotiate on their behalf as a single unit” with hospital groups. Though not naming Discovery in the report, it is clearly referring to it when it says one participant has “unique scale” which allows smaller schemes to “benefit from [its] bulk or volume discounts”.AfroCentric argues that this contravenes the Competition Act. “We believe this constitutes collusive behaviour in terms of competition law and that it adversely distorts competition in the industry. We understand that the administrator in question has also been marketing [its] ability to pass on this bulk discount capability when targeting scheme...
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.