Spiralling costs of private healthcare under the spotlight at Market Inquiry
PRIVATE hospitals are expected to shed light on the spiralling costs of private healthcare as the public hearings of the Market Inquiry into the private healthcare sector enters its fourth week.
Tomorrow the three big private hospital groups, Life Healthcare, Mediclinic SA and Netcare are expected to delve deeply into cost drivers in their industry.
The Market Inquiry entered its fourth week of public hearings yesterday with presentations from the provincial health departments of the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal detailing how legislation affected the provision of private healthcare services in these provinces.
Today the Council for Medical Schemes, the Allied Health Professions Council of SA and the Chiropractic Association of SA are among the groups that will make presentations to the five-member panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo.
The aim of the inquiry is to determine if the private healthcare sector functions in a competitive manner and if there are factors preventing access to healthcare services which can or should be removed.
Sixty-eight submissions, totalling 15000 pages, have been made to the commission.
The inquiry, which is looking into practices that prevent, distort or restrict competition in the healthcare market, has held public hearings in Joburg and Pretoria. After Cape Town, it will hold more hearings in Durban. – Health Writer