President Javier Milei’s government, in contrast to its rhetoric of free-market liberalism at all costs, has announced that leading health providers are to be indicted for monopolistic behaviour.
The CNDC (Comisión Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia) anti-monopoly watchdog will initiate summary proceedings against seven prepaid health care schemes in total, as well as the chamber grouping them and its then-president for presumed conspiratorial practices.
In the framework of an investigation into presumed anti-competitive conduct beginning in mid-January, the CNDC decided to accuse several prepaid medical schemes, the confederation grouping them and its then president after finding multiple evidence of collusion.
The companies investigated and indicted by the CNDC are Galeno, the British and German Hospitals, Medifé, Swiss Medical, Omint and OSDE, as well as their UAS (Unión Argentina de Salud) chamber.
Claudio Belocopitt was also accused, both as the current president of Swiss Medical and as the former president of UAS.
The ongoing investigation was opened on the basis of a CNDC denunciation of cartel practices after a coordinated increase in the fees of the above health plans between last December and last April.
In April last year, the Trade & Industry Secretariat of the Economy Ministry intervened with an anticipatory injunction obliging the sector’s companies to roll back their prices to December and halt all exchanges of information, whether in the framework of UAS meetings or anywhere else, which covered prices, the services to be provided, the costs and any other commercial information.
According to the deadlines established by the LDC (Ley de Defensa de la Competencia) anti-monopoly law, as from this notification, the legal entities and individuals indicted have 20 working days to defend themselves by offering evidence against the charges.
The CNDC will fix a period (which cannot be longer than 90 working days but can be extended by a further 90 working days if considered necessary) for this evidence to be produced. At the end of this period, the indicted will have six working days to present their cases.
Should the evidence produced be sufficient to overturn the accusation, the CNDC may order the proceedings to be shelved.
Otherwise, the Trade and Industry Department in conjunction with the CNDC may fine the accused up to 30 percent of their volume of business or even double the illicit profits obtained.
The CNDC issues a reminder that agreements between competitors or coordinated practices commonly known as cartels are a grave infraction of the legislation to defend competition, which lead to fines of up to 30 percent of the invoicing of the offending companies in Argentina.
In particular, Article 2 of the LDC classifies as hardcore cartel practices absolutely restricting competition any agreement between two or more competitors to fix prices, restrict supply, share out the market or coordinate approaches to tenders or auctions.
– TIMES/NA
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