https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Commission invites public input on private healthcare sector

Commission invites public input on private healthcare sector

Photo by Bloomberg

5th February 2015

By: Megan van Wyngaardt

Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

  

Font size: - +

South Africa’s Competition Commission on Thursday invited the public to give their input on the submissions made to the commission by the private healthcare sector, as part of a market inquiry into the sector.

In January last year, the commission launched the market inquiry into the sector, as it was concerned about the ongoing high private healthcare costs.

Its investigation was aimed at determining the general state of competition in this sector to determine what could be done to make accessible, affordable, high-quality and advanced private healthcare more widely available.

It further wanted to determine how the market set its prices, as well as ensure that the market allowed for citizens’ constitutional right to access healthcare.

The commission had set a deadline for November 2014 for the submission of input from those operating in the healthcare sector.

It revealed on Thursday that submissions had been received from healthcare practitioners and their associations; healthcare funders and administrators; nongovernmental organisations; trade unions; government; and private individuals.

Competition Commission inquiry chairperson and former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo said the submissions were of "very high" quality, but noted that two of the 68 submissions had been retracted, owing to one being irrelevant and another having been withdrawn by the subcommittee.

He pointed out that many of the submissions, which totalled 15 000 pages, highlighted the same issues, including that private health expenditure was high and that private healthcare inflation was higher than general inflation.

“Some submissions have sought to explain the expenditure and price inflation by reference to market power in three areas in the private healthcare sector, namely hospital groups, medical schemes and specialists. We should add, however, that there are conflicting views on the issue of market power, in particular, whether it exists and, if so, where it resides,” Ngcobo noted.

Many submissions had touched on the subjects of inadequate enforcement of the applicable regulations, as well as ineffective oversight by the regulatory bodies, while others argued that the market was being overregulated, “resulting in barriers to entry and expansion in the private healthcare sector”.

He highlighted that there was an overall concensus that there was a regulatory gap that needed to be dealt with, as it had many adverse effects on the market, “on the vulnerable people [sick and injured] who depend on the private healthcare sector”.

Another issue was that the sector felt that there was a lack of information on and from patients, which translated into a lack of transparency in accessing private healthcare information, in particular, on pricing, costs and quality of services. “They have submitted that this lack of information places patients at a disadvantage when making decisions on services,” Ngcobo said.

“I need not remind you that the success of this inquiry lies not so much in the panel, but in [the public’s] willingness to cooperate with the panel by providing it with information that will enable it to accurately determine whether or not the private healthcare sector functions in a competitive manner, and whether there are barriers preventing access to healthcare services which can and should be removed,” he added.

The public would have until 17:00 on March 5 to comment.

The commission’s technical team would also shortly embark on a process of seeking additional information on the submissions, which was expected to be completed by March 30.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Alco-Safe
Alco-Safe

An unmanned breathalyser that is made to be tough and simple to use. Can be used in any environment for operator-free breathalyser testing.

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Environmental Assurance (Pty) Ltd.
Environmental Assurance (Pty) Ltd.

ENVASS is a customer and solutions-driven environmental consultancy with established divisions, serviced by highly qualified and experienced...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.133 0.196s - 259pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now