Hospital group Netcare on Friday rejected a proposal by the Council for Medical Schemes to introduce collective bargaining between medical schemes and healthcare providers.
The Council on Thursday released a report saying private health cost increases were unsustainable and unjustifiable.
It said without corrective government interventions, continuing cost escalation would have long-term impact on access to health care through medical schemes.
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It evaluated contributing factors to rising costs in medical schemes, finding that private hospitals, medicines and specialists were responsible for the majority of the cost increases.
Specialists and hospitals to blame
It said medicine cost increases have been limited by the single exit price regulations, but that private hospitals and specialists have been the major contributors to health cost escalation of medical schemes in recent years.
One of the major recommendations the council made to curtail these costs were government legislation which would see fee-for-service prices being replaced by central bargaining.
But Netcare said this would not solve the crisis of access to healthcare services in the country
Contravenes competition law
"This is not only in direct contravention of the competition law but will also not solve the problem of increased demand for healthcare, which is driven by lifestyle chronic diseases, obesity, aging and medical innovation.
"Neither will it prevent the unintended consequences of Prescribed Minimum Benefits, which have lead to medical schemes reducing primary medical cover," Richard Friedland chief executive of Netcare said.
Private hospital inflation has come in below CPIX in the last five years, Netcare said.
It added that since 1998, R7 billion had been spent by medical schemes on hospitalisation for reasons not attributed to price changes.
"We do not support price regulation in a sector with significant supply constraints and most certainly not when based on misinformation. This is not to the benefit of the greater healthcare industry or the healthcare consumer," Friedland said. – (Sapa )
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