Health insurers have applauded the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) decision to refer the operation of the private healthcare market to the Competition Commission (CC).
The OFT was particularly concerned about the lack of transparency offered to patients going through the private treatment process and explained that many GPs it surveyed were also kept in the dark. Sonia Branch, senior director of the OFT, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that patients maybe paying higher prices for no additional quality because of a lack of clear information. "When patients have a discussion with GPs we find they may not be getting very much information about the choice of consultants or private healthcare facilities they can visit," she said. "A fifth (20%) of ...
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