Another health inquiry delay
LIFE HEALTHCARE: OBJECTS TO THE RELEASE OF INFO
An objection by Life Healthcare has resulted in yet another hold up.
The Competition Commission’s Health Market Inquiry (HMI) is facing another delay in the publication of its long-awaited provisional report – pushing out the deadline to unveil its findings and recommendations four times in less than a year.
The health inquiry, which was meant to start in January 2014 but only commenced in August that year, was established to probe the dynamics in the private healthcare market and to determine whether there are barriers to competition and patient access.
It would also examine the cost drivers of private healthcare, given healthcare expenditure and prices rising above inflation.
The inquiry was set to release a provisional report on November 30, 2017. However, this was pushed to April 30, then May 31, and the latest date was revised to June 28.
The publishing of the interim report on Thursday looks unlikely.
Director of the inquiry Clint Oellermann told Moneyweb the health inquiry would release a notice in the “next day [Tuesday] or two on the way forward and publication of the report”.
The delay in the publication of the provisional report was announced in a notice on the Competition Commission’s website on Friday, following objections raised by Life Healthcare. The private healthcare group believed that the inquiry relied on information it provided to the inquiry and the release of the provisional report would breach the confidentiality of the information.
“We are engaging closely with key stakeholders [Life Healthcare] and are hopeful that the matter at hand will be resolved,” said Oellermann.
The inquiry has approached the Competition Tribunal in accordance with the Competition Act to determine whether the information disputed by Life Healthcare is confidential and whether publication of the report breaches confidentiality.
Initially, Discovery Health, Netcare, Life Healthcare and Mediclinic objected to the publishing of certain information in the provisional report. The disputes with Discovery Health, Netcare, and Mediclinic were resolved.