Running up (and down) the CMA private hospital hill

clock • 3 min read

The CMA's private hospital market debacle leaves it with a Sisyphean task, says Richard Walsh

In ancient mythology, King Sisyphus was made to endlessly roll a huge boulder up a steep hill by Zeus. As soon as he got the boulder to the top, Zeus enchanted it to roll back down again. The result was that Sisyphus was consigned to an eternity of useless effort and unending frustration.   I have written about the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the private hospital market in London before: in particular, the dominance of one provider (HCA) which insurers allege means that the market is not competitive, the result being that insurers have to pay higher costs...

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