Labour union National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) wants the Competition Commission to take tough action against the private health sector after the Health Market Inquiry (HMI) alluded to collusion in the market.
The HMI Panel released its much awaited findings and recommendations report last week after a six year investigation into the industry.
The report painted a picture of an unaccountable and unregulated private sector where consumers are subjected to high and rising costs without evidence of improvements in health outcomes.
Addressing the media in Johannesburg on Monday, NEHAWU’s General Secretary, Zola Saphetha, says the report reveals a shocking state of affairs in the private health industry.
“The Competition Commission was extremely lenient with those people who were found to have contravened the laws of the country, price fixing. We want consequences because to each and every wrong doing we want consequences and such is regulated, we want that. And we have already written to them because we are not happy with the highlighting of the problem rather than to be providing solutions to address the problems and in this case we are prepared to even pick a fight with them.”
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