Healthcare inquiry could lead to further scrutiny

EVEN though the market inquiry into the private healthcare sector is not a court process, those with something to hide might not get away scot-free.

Business Day, 15 January 2015

The Competition Commission has warned stakeholders that it may initiate investigations based on what it hears during the inquiry. Commission spokesman Itumeleng Lesofe said the commission could refer a complaint to the Competition Tribunal or initiate an investigation should it find evidence of illegal conduct.

He said the Competition Commission Act also provides the option to initiate further inquiries after being guided by the recommendations of the inquiry panel, and should the information be sufficient, the option could be considered.

The public hearings will begin next month, more than two years after the inquiry was first announced. The hearings were pushed back to February 16 because stakeholders were unable to prepare for pre-hearing consultations during the Christmas break, according to former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, who chairs the inquiry.

He said the fact that submissions made by the public and stakeholders in the sector were not always substantiated by data had also added to the inquiry's research workload and contributed to the delay. Ngcobo went to great lengths to emphasise how the hearings would be non-adversarial and called them an information gathering process, reminding stakeholders that the hearings did not amount to litigation.

Ngcobo said the purpose of the inquiry was to establish how competition was hampered or enhanced in the private healthcare sector currently and, subsequently, make recommendations to the Competition Commission. The inquiry has no power to implement any of its recommendations.

Ngcobo said evidence leaders would present information and guide witnesses during the hearings, but they would not function as prosecutors. They would not be allowed to cross-examine witnesses as would be the case in a courtroom. In preparation for the hearings, consumer groups, non-profit organisations, service providers, suppliers, funders and policy makers in the private healthcare sector will meet for prehearing consultations from January 26-29. The deadline for publication of the inquiry's report is December 15.