The deadline for continuing the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the privately funded healthcare services is looming.
The CMA has been looking into whether there’s any anti-competitive arrangements in the sector. If there are, competition may be stifled, and the consumer may be getting hit in the pocket.
When it comes to investigations that involve healthcare, they can often be the most important ones. They say that you can’t put a price on your health, but in reality, big medical companies and pharmaceutical giants literally do just that.
Deadline looming for privately funded healthcare services investigation
The deadline for the CMA to decide whether to proceed with a case following investigations into the privately funded healthcare services is October 2019.
We should therefore know in the next few weeks whether further action is going to be taken or not.
They may still extend their deadline as they look into things on a provisional basis. The CMA needs to decide if the resources to be allocated in terms of a full investigation are worth it or not, and a lot of that usually comes down to what evidence is available at the start of the case.
As usual, no assumptions are being made at the moment. It may transpire that there’s been no anti-competitive behaviour at all, but until things are looked into in finer detail, it can be hard to tell.
Another important investigation
The initial investigations into the privately funded healthcare services is yet another important one that the CMA’s undertaking.
There have been so many – and still are so many – reviews and studies into healthcare sectors cross the board. Billions can be made off the back of medical products, pills and services, and it’s important to make sure that people aren’t being ripped off because people need healthcare services.
Any kind of anti-competitive behaviour that breaches important competition law should always be properly punished. When it comes matters of healthcare, punishments must be severe in order to ensure players in the market don’t profit off the back of illegal actions, and to act as a clear deterrent to avoid future scenarios.