In the midst of the tension due to the strong increases, the Government began a investigation for alleged collusion (cartelization) of the prepaid medicine companies due to the increase in the values of the quotas, which accumulate an increase in 160% average so far this year.
“There is an investigation underway in the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC), following a complaint made by the deputies of the Civic Coalition, Hernán Reyes and Juan Manuel López”, official sources confirmed to TN.
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The legislators presented a complaint in January before the CNDC against medical companies prepaid that They make up the Argentine Health Union (UAS), headed by Claudio Belocopitt, for allegedly engaging in cartelization to set price increases in a coordinated manner, which would negatively affect the users of the service.
The appeal presented refers to the conduct provided for in paragraph a) of article 2 of the law, which states that “the agreements between two or more competitors, consisting of contracts, agreements or arrangements whose object or effect was: a) To agree in directly or indirectly the sale or purchase price of goods or services at which they are offered or demanded in the market.” This conduct is considered restrictive of competition and illegal and means that, once the conduct is proven, the non-compliance with the competition law.
This complaint became more relevant after Luis Caputo will issue a harsh warning to prepaid companies: “They are declaring war on the middle class. We, from the Government, are going to do everything in our power to defend the middle class,” wrote the head of the Treasury Palace.
This is not the first time that the Minister of Economy questions the increases in prepaid payments. A few days ago, in an interview at TN, spoke about inflation and stated: “Speculation created inflation itself. They acknowledged that they set the prices with one dollar at $2000, which was what the consulting firms predicted. It was normal for them to follow that information. Now they are nominally lowering prices.” And he graphed: “The prepaid companies were beaten again.”
The presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, spoke along the same lines this Tuesday: “We deregulate, we give freedoms, we do not allow that there is a degree of cartelization that affects Argentines, is what Caputo understood is happening, in his statements he talks about an issue of cartelization that is beyond all reasonableness.
After Caputo’s warning, the prepaid companies asked for an urgent meeting: “We are not price makers”
After several warnings from Caputo, the prepaid medicine companies came out to request a meeting of manner urgent with the head of the Treasury Palace, to try to lower the tension.
The chambers that bring together prepaid medicine expressed in a statement that they will request a hearing “in order to bring to you all the information that is available and that explains – among other situations – the defunding to which the sector was subjected for years.”
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“We understand that the situation is extreme severity, Therefore, companies intend not to argue through the media, but, on the contrary, open a work table and debate that allows the government to understand the real situation of the private health system,” they expressed in the letter.
Likewise, they highlighted: “We are aware and concerned about the increase in quotas, because we value the Argentines who have opted for this system and it is our intention to do everything possible to ensure that they continue to do so. But it must be understood that prepaid medicine companies They are not price makers.. In any case, the impact of the country’s inflation crosses all our costs, in the same way that it impacts each Argentine family.»