The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued a final determination granting authorisation to the Reserve Bank Health Society (RBHS) for 10 years.
The authorisation allows another private health fund, Lysaght Peoplecare Limited, to provide RBHS with services relating to operational matters under a Management Services Agreement. Some of the services include marketing, product development, hospital contract management and other governance services.
RBHS is the smallest health fund in Australia and is restricted to providing private health insurance to current and former employees of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Note Printing Australia and their dependants. As such, RBHS has limited ability to generate economies of scale and improve its member services.
"The ACCC considers the agreement is likely to generate cost efficiencies for RBHS which are likely to flow through to its members," ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said. "The agreement is likely to result in members having access to increased services, including a broader range of health care products."
Broadly the ACCC may grant authorisation, which provides protection for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, where it is satisfied that the public benefit arising from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
The final determination will be available on the public register available at www.accc.gov.au/AuthorisationsRegister