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ANTITRUST INQUIRY INTO LOCAL HEALTH BOARDS AND NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE


PRESS RELEASE




PRESS RELEASE


ANTITRUST OPENS INQUIRY INTO LOCAL HEALTH BOARDS AND NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE



The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting of 15 June 2005, decided to open an inquiry into hospital services provided by Local Health Boards (AUSL) and approved private hospitals.

Competitive Framework
        The overall picture which emerges from a brief description of Italy’s health system, now under examination by the Antitrust Authority, is one of extreme complexity, in which the Regions have adopted their own interpretations of the national regulations. The Authority is aware that the public health service is a manifestation of a social right, guaranteed in the country’s Constitution and now also in European law, and therefore recognizes its special character as compared with other public services. So the very nature of a social right, together with the principles of equity and solidarity which permeate the public health service, mean it is necessary to address the question of the areas in which competitive principles may be introduced.

Regulatory Models
         The various regulatory models, deriving from a legislative framework which is not always well defined, will be analysed so as to  evaluate which competitive principles have been introduced or could usefully be introduced with the aim of guaranteeing the best performance of health services in hospitals.

System of Authorizations and Accreditation
         Secondly, the inquiry will cover the effects of reforms and, in particular, of the 1999 reform which has already been the subject of reports by the Authority; those reports pointed out the competitive problems associated with the system of accreditation of private operators to the National Health Service, as adopted by the Regions, and with the procedures foreseen for authorizations and for stipulation of agreements. To this end, an analysis will also be made of the role of the AUSL (Local Health Boards) and any and all questions relating to competition.

Definition of Relevant Markets
        The Authority proposes to examine, too, the question of the definition of relevant markets within hospital services, by analysing the characteristics of supply and demand in terms both of product, that is the types of services offered by the institutions, and of geography, i.e. an analysis of how well patients’/users’ needs are satisfied in different localities.

Finally, the Authority intends to approach the analysis of this delicate sector of national life as a question of consumer protection, with the aim of ensuring the consumer has the benefit of efficient, high-quality treatment through the introduction of competitive principles into the health service.


Rome, 18 June 2005