Over-70s medical card negotiations against competition law

Time Magazine

From RTÉ

Monday, 20 October 2008 14:36
The Competition Authority has said that the Irish Medical Organisation cannot negotiate with the Government on GPs' fees to try to end the controversy over medical cards for the over 70s.

On RTÉ Radio's News at One, director of the authority's monopolies division Dr Stanley Wong said any such talks would be a breach of Irish and European competition law.

However, he said he agreed with comments today by Minister for Health Mary Harney who said the Government could consult with people.

Green Party Senator Dan Boyle also said while his party agreed with the overall decision to end universal entitlement, he was confident that changes could be made to exclude fewer people.

Separately, a Fianna Fáil councillor and three-time mayor of Midleton in Co Cork has said he is resigning from the party over the proposal to means test people over 70 for medical cards.

Billy Buckley described the proposal as a savage attack on elderly people.

He said he could not be a member of a party or support a Government which came up with these proposals.

Mr Buckley was out of the country when the details of the Budget were announced last week and returned yesterday.

He said his decision was final and there would be no going back.

Mr Buckley was first elected to Midleton Urban District Council in 1994 and has been returned in each election since then.

Strangely, could this be a saving grace for the government? They could potentially use the "this is illegal, it's off the table" excuse?

dlofnep

Heard Harney speak about it on the radio earlier, said it's not possible because it's a breach of the competition law.

It shouldn't have even come to this anyways. Just trying to pass the buck elsewhere.

efb

really? They shouldn't try to renegotiate the overpriced fees the tax payer pays GPs for over70 medical cards?

dresden8

The fees they themselves agreed to?

"I know I agreed but you shouldn't have let me agree" Kind of thing?

Victor

This will have implications for the deal that the HSE negotiated with the pharmacists then.

lostexpectation

what the guy said was that they got sean dorgan to go out and meet many phamisicst and reported back with the info and then some sort of wide ranging deal was made with the phairmecists as individual business men, they didn't simple negotiation with the representative body, like the imo, ,although the competition authority doesn't seen to be very good a finding ways to promote competition between doctors to lower prices.

anyway tmw, cowen is going to announce a person to make report on a review of committee recommendations of whether or not its all gps fault and kick it to touch for a few weeks.

Time Magazine

efb wrote: »

really? They shouldn't try to renegotiate the overpriced fees the tax payer pays GPs for over70 medical cards?

Consultation is one thing. Negotiation is another.

If the IMO gang up and "negotiate", they're practically being a cartel. Of course if the State "just sets a price", it's acting as a monopolist, but the State cannot be in breach of its own competition law.

And yes, there are consequences for the Irish Pharmaceutical Union too.