Bupa accused of squeezing private hospitals with anti-competitive contracts | The Business
Business reporter Alison Branley has been investigating health insurance giant Bupa, which has been accused of anti-competitive behaviour in its dealings with private hospitals. Critics say it ultimately reduces choice for customers.
Documents obtained by the ABC have revealed how its contracts impose crippling conditions on operators who are too small to object.
Former manager of hospital partnerships at Bupa, David Du Plessis says what it really does is remove choice.
“What Bupa is really in effect doing with this is saying, ‘well, you can choose your specialist, but you’re going to bear a lot of costs with that specialist unless they go to a hospital that we hold a contract with’,” he says.
The Private Hospitals Association has called on the competition regulator, the ACCC to act.
“This is a situation where Bupa are trying to have the hospital over a barrel and dictate pricing. It’s completely inappropriate,” Private Hospitals Association CEO, Brett Heffernan says.
Competition law expert Dr Bashi Hazard says if its found to be coercive and limiting competition it could constitute an illegal practice.
Bupa denies it asked doctors to influence hospital fees, saying any agreements were voluntary and providers can negotiate with other insurers to promote competition.
It says the claims about its gap scheme are baseless and it was designed to “to help customers pay less, and in many cases nothing, for medical out-of-pocket costs.”
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