Jelf Employee Benefits shares its Point of View on Competition Commission with clients
Following the Competition Commission’s release of provisional findings after its investigation into the UK private healthcare market, Jelf Employee Benefits has published the first of its In Focus newsletters to help its clients keep abreast of changes affecting health and wellbeing.
The Commission review, which has been ongoing for 18 months, focused on the privately funded treatment (insurance, self-pay, etc) of acute medical conditions in private hospitals, facilities and clinics, as well as Private Patient Units (PPUs) in the NHS. The main areas of focus were the market power of private hospitals and consultants; barriers to entry for new providers; commercial dynamics between insurers, hospitals and consultants; and the limits on information availability.
The interim findings include:
The main hospital groups have been earning returns consistently above the cost of capital due to having market power arising from high concentration and insufficient competitive constraints at the local level.
There is widespread use of incentive schemes by private hospitals which provide financial benefits to consultants for using their facilities.
The largest insurers achieve significantly lower prices from private healthcare suppliers than the smaller insurers. However, no insurer has buyer power that can fully offset the market power of the largest private hospital groups.
The absence of information about performance of hospitals and consultants fees, reduces competition and so constrains patients’, GPs’, and insurers’ ability to make informed decisions.
Jelf Employee Benefits’ Point of View:
• Jelf Employee Benefits welcomes the identification of these issues as the company believes that a number of these findings will directly or indirectly contribute to increased claim costs and potentially increased absence in the workplace.
• It welcomes any measures that increase competition within the private healthcare market, as this can only help to contain treatment charges, which are the major component of private medical plan costs.
• As the review and final outcomes are far from complete, the company remains cautious about any short-term potential gains that may arise for employers.
Iain Laws, director of UK healthcare said: “This announcement from the Competition Commission potentially signals some major changes in the market and employers may not be aware of either the review or these findings. We believe it’s important for them to keep up to date and we will continue to keep our clients informed as things develop”
For more information please visit: www.jelfgroup.com/wellbeingatwork
-end-
Media Contact:
Sharon Mason
SMUK Marketing and PR
Land: 01252 843350
Mob: 07747 611773
About Jelf
Jelf is a leading independent consultancy supporting businesses and individuals with expert advice on matters relating to insurance, employee benefits, health insurance and financial planning. Its purpose is simple: to build a long-lasting relationship with clients and to become their trusted adviser.
Formed in 1989 by Chris Jelf, the Group has 34 offices in 32 locations across England and Wales, employing almost 1,100 members of staff.
About Jelf Employee Benefits
Jelf Employee Benefits operates out of six locations and accounts for over a quarter (27%) of Jelf Group revenue (£19.8m in 2012). Clients include Admiral, Bluestone, Compass Group, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Hanover Group, Honda UK, Midas Group, Save the Children, Space Engineering, Specsavers and Thatchers. Jelf Employee Benefits helps clients choose the right benefits for their employees and will then source and negotiate them, as well as help promote them to staff. This is a three-part process:
- Benefit design or review (including risk and pension benefits)
- Implementation
- Communication
Benefit types:
- Healthcare: PMI, Private Dental Insurance, Health Screening, Employee Assistance Programmes, Absence Management and Occupational Health