Office of Fair Trading

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 Office of Fair Trading has referred the private healthcare market to the Competition Commission (CC) and revealed a move by the FSA, ABI and health insurers to better inform customers.

Health insurers and brokers have broadly supported the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) view that the private healthcare market is ‘not working well for customers'.

The private healthcare market ‘may not be working well for consumers', the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.

Only one complaint about the structure of private medical insurance (PMI) contracts has been forwarded to the FSA by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), COVER has learned.

The ongoing dispute between Bupa and surgeons' representative bodies is now on the verge of entering its fourth month and has earned the title "saga" at COVER.

The reform of the NHS is dominating many discussions in private healthcare circles, but Owain Thomas unearths another government initiative that could have a greater impact

Surgeons have condemned plans by Bupa to demand pre-operation second opinions as "unacceptable" and "potentially harmful to patients" while criticising the provider for not working alongside them.

Insurers are increasingly influencing private medical practice and threatening consultants with being taken off their books, doctors have said.

Can you see a change in focus for the FSA's replacement, following its renaming to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), rather than the previously suggested Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA)?