A final report on the Competition Commission’s private healthcare market inquiry will have been released "by 30 November", according to a notice in the Government Gazette, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.
The decision to extend the deadline was prompted by "several requests" from stakeholders for more time to make submissions on a provisional report provisional report published in July. "Various requests" were also made for "access to (the) underlying data and information considered in preparing the … report" – a process originally intended to end on 31 August but nevertheless "ongoing".
The provisional report is apparently widely perceived as an "attack on the market", although professor of political studies at the University of Johannesburg, Steven Friedman, believes a proposal for healthcare providers and funders to be regulated is "a pro-market move". According to Norton Rose Fulbright director Michelle David, it leaves none of the industry’s major players "untouched".
[link url="http://legalbrief.co.za/diary/legalbrief-today/policy-watch/health-deadline-extended-for-final-report-on-market-inquiry/"]Legalbrief Policy Watch report[/link]
[link url="http://www.compcom.co.za/provisional-findings-and-recommendations-report/"]Provisional Findings and Recommendations report[/link]