Market concentration trends in South Africa’s private healthcare sector
Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
The Competition Commission (CC) commenced with an enquiry into South Africa’s private healthcare sector at the beginning of 2014, the outcome of which could have far-reaching consequences for the medical industry in South Africa. The panel appointed to consider competition in the private healthcare sector has indicated that they are interested in understanding increased consolidation in the private hospital market and the effect this may have on competitive dynamics. This article considers historical concentration trends in the private hospital market from 2000 to 2012. In addition it also deals with changes in market structure in the medical scheme and administrator markets. These trends provide a complete picture of market structure changes and the implications for relative bargaining power of the various parties. It finds that whereas the market concentration of private hospitals has remained relatively stable since 2004, the market concentration of medical schemes and administrators has increased over this period.
Description
CITATION: Erasmus, M. & Theron, N. 2016. Market concentration trends in South Africa’s private healthcare sector. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 19(1):53-63, doi:10.4102/sajems.v19i1.1219.
The original publication is available at https://sajems.org
The original publication is available at https://sajems.org
Keywords
Private healthcare industry -- South Africa, Health facilities, Proprietary -- South Africa, Competition Commission of South Africa, Concentration indices -- South Africa, Health services accessibility -- South Africa
Citation
Erasmus, M. & Theron, N. 2016. Market concentration trends in South Africa’s private healthcare sector. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 19(1):53-63, doi:10.4102/sajems.v19i1.1219