Consultants warned over ‘price-fixing’

CONSULTANTS have been warned that they risk breaking the law on price-fixing if they try to negotiate collectively on fees for treating private patients.

In an advisory issued yesterday, the Competition Authority said the traditional negotiations the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) undertook with private health insurers such as VHI on behalf of their members could not resume.

The IHCA and IMO had already agreed in September 2005 to suspend negotiations while the Competition Authority completed a process of public consultation on the issue.

IHCA general secretary Finbarr Fitzpatrick said the conclusions reached by the Competition Authority were unwelcome but not unexpected. “It is as restrictive as we feared,” he said.

The authority has effectively said the IHCA and IMO can resume collective discussions with health insurers so long as they don’t mention price. A spokesman said they could discuss issues such as the number of theatre hours, bed days and the extent of follow-up care required to treat a particular medical condition.

The IHCA argued that negotiating collectively on price saved members’ time and ensured insurers had the fullest information on procedures, treatments, equipment and techniques with which to establish an agreed schedule of fees.

Traditionally that schedule was renegotiated every two years to allow for increases in costs and the introduction of cover for new procedures and treatments. In future, all consultants will negotiate individually with insurers.

VHI said that it did not anticipate any difficulties. “This was well flagged in 2005 and we have made and do make agreements with individual consultants,” a spokeswoman said.

Mr Fitzpatrick, however, said it could lead to a situation where patients were unsure if their consultant and/or medical procedure was fully covered by the insurer. “If there’s an emergency, you don’t have time to shop around,” he said.

Mr Fitzpatrick said the IHCA would comply with the notice but took issue with the authority publishing an advisory rather than a legal document, with a disclaimer that recommends parties avail of legal advice.

“If they are offering guidance to people, you would expect that that guidance should be legally reliable,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.