UK: CMA: Lack of price competition in private healthcare is “harming customers

A lack of price competition in private healthcare in central London is “harming customers”, the Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally found after an appeal by HCA International Limited.

The CMA has found that the market share of HCA International, together with high barriers to entry and expansion in central London have resulted in weak competitive constraints that have led “HCA International charging higher prices to private medical insurers than would be expected in a well-functioning market”.

The watchdog looked into HCA International after the company appealed a report published in April 2014, which found certain features of the market for privately-funded healthcare were having an adverse effect on competition.

Full content: The Financial Times

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