Rachel Reeves asks UK regulator to investigate private dental charges
https://www.ft.com/content/c97e1e3d-cd49-4c97-a2e0-7f2ed9861e94
Posted by Lazy-Internet-8025
Rachel Reeves asks UK regulator to investigate private dental charges
https://www.ft.com/content/c97e1e3d-cd49-4c97-a2e0-7f2ed9861e94
Posted by Lazy-Internet-8025
22 Comments
Walled even through the archive link the automod posted.
>Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked the UK competition watchdog to investigate the cost of private dental treatment amid mounting concern about a sharp increase in prices.
>Reeves has written to the Competition and Markets Authority requesting a market study into “private dentistry costs and practices”, saying that patients may be paying more than is necessary.
>Prices for private dental treatment have climbed sharply in recent years, according to research by myTribe Insurance, a website providing information about private healthcare and insurance.
>The research, published in December last year, found that patients were paying up to 32 per cent more for private dental procedures in 2024 compared with 2022.
>An analysis of data over this period by myTribe from 450 private dental practices found the average cost of a white filling had increased 23 per cent to £129 last year, while the average cost of a tooth extraction had risen 32 per cent to £139.
>Reeves said: “The scourge of hidden costs, lack of transparency and overtreatment has blighted families in need of dental treatment for too long.
>“That’s why I want to see urgent action taken to help reduce prices, whilst the cost of living still puts pressure on families across the country.”
>A spokesperson for the CMA said they “welcome the request from the chancellor to carry out a study into the private dental care market”.
>“This is an important market that needs to work well for consumers,” they added.
>“We have been exploring the merits of work in this area and will be developing a specific proposal to put to our board.”
>Reeves’ request to the CMA to investigate private dentistry costs and practices comes after ministers in January forced out the regulator’s then chair, Marcus Bokkerink, because of concerns that the watchdog was not sufficiently focused on growth.
>But the government’s deregulatory agenda and attempts to nurture growth have had to be accommodated alongside its efforts to address Britons’ concerns about the cost of living.
>The dental sector has said the government’s increase in employer national insurance contributions in last year’s Budget has pushed up costs for practices and played a role in the increase in prices for private treatment.
>A shortage of dentists, combined with strong demand for their services, has enabled practices to push up their charges for private procedures, according to one trade body.
>Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups, said: “Without a significant increase in new dentists, consequential inflationary pressures are bound to be felt across the sector.
>“Many ADG members have already found recent increases in national insurance and costs for essential supplies to be difficult to absorb.”
>Dentists have also flagged major problems with the NHS dental contract, which has contributed to long waiting times for treatment on the health service.
>Under the NHS contract, practices are paid set fees to deliver a certain number of “units of dental activity”, or treatments, each year.
>Dentists have complained that the system has left them struggling to cover their costs, with simple procedures sometimes remunerated at the same rate as complex treatment, such as root canal surgery.
>The sector has said the system has contributed to the increase in private dental prices, as some practices seek to cover the costs of doing NHS work.
Really important to properly regulate this given how limited NHS dental options have become. Same should be done for vets. A lot of these vet and dental businesses have been bought up by private equity leeches who are price gouging the market.
£139 for a tooth extraction. I don’t think that’s right. It’s many times more than that surely.
It’s good that its being looked at but as long as the market is transparent and competitive then it’s not automatically bad that prices have risen so much.
I think the main issue is the collapse of NHS dentistry and the ridiculous waiting lists which are feeding unprecedented demand on the private sector.
Commitment for newly qualified dentists to work within the NHS for 7,500 hours or something along with wider changes to the contracts – especially in regards to UDA’s.
Interesting, and it needs doing, but what the hell does this have to do with Rachel Reeves? Is this not an issue for the Health Secretary??????
Reeves seems like she should be busy on other things.
Incredible it’s outrageous how expensive it is
Another good thing that will be spun in some bad way by the haters
Glad his is being looked at. To be fair to the government they do seem to be trying to address the very obvious price gouging tha thas happened over the last few years across a wide range of sectors.
The pandemic marked a significant worsening of the quality and increase of costs for my private dental care. We ended up needing to pay for a service we were not receiving during the pandemic under threat that we would be released by the practice if we did not (getting any dentist in this area is incredibly difficult). Then came the prices rises which were done by the way of lots of “reviews” of our cover far beyond the annual review you would expect.
We have managed to find a new dentist and alternative cover provider eventually but it isn’t really any cheaper, we just lost trust. We are still in dispute with the previous practice/cover provider over their failure to provide the required service during the pandemic.
Is NHS dentists were available, price gouging by private dentists wouldn’t be a problem. By effectively removing dentistry from the NHS, it gives private dentists almost a monopoly position. And when people make money by performing procedures, they’re motivated to perform procedures even when not entirely necessary.
Truly we need the state to intervene. People can’t get NHS dentists so the government has to make sure nobody can go private either. We have to fight teeth inequality!
100% agree with this. The same should be done to Vets as well
If people can’t get affordable dental care they’ll just start doing it themselves. Plenty of historical precedence for this.
Then it just becomes a public health matter and we all end up paying for it anyway.
If it’s not profitable enough then dentists won’t be as readily available and we won’t be able to get private appointments either.
How about sorting the absolute mess that is NHS dentistry rather than fucking things up even more?
This is the kind of change which seems well meaning and good until you think about it for more than 30 seconds.
Is she going to do the same for every market in which prices have risen post-pandemic?
Netflix prices? Spotify prices?
The price of mince beef?
£1,500 to have both my back bottom wisdom teeth out. It took 2.5 hours for a dentist and nurse to do the job over three appointments.
The alternative was to wait for 3 infections, then be added to the NHS waiting list. By that time I’d probably lost my back molars.
They can charge whatever they want as there is no alternative and living with the pain isn’t an option. I hate this reality.
Literally what’s the point? It’s a free market exercise, people can shop around and find a dentist that suits their budget and needs. If people’s expectations of a service should be costed based on what they can afford they clearly don’t know how much these types of businesses cost to run.
They really should be rallying to sort out NHS dentistry instead. Not increasing funding for the NHS dentistry budget (as it has been stagnant year or year) is the main cause of this bollocks. Either remove it and have it a core service (reduce tax as well) or increase and sort it out properly.
Sounds dumb. Dentists spend 5-8 years at uni, their work will be expensive. They’re also business that compete in the market, if they’re too overpriced then they’ll just fail as businesses and close down.
NHS dentists are overfilled precisely because their costs are mismatched with market rates and are overdemanded.
I know a few dentists through golf. People are paying hard for brexit and the economy unfortunately
Ridiculous prices, incentivised to offer you treatment that you probably don’t need so that they can profit, and have requirements such as needing to visit regularly else you’re struck off.
The vet market needs to be investigated like any market that shows signs of the exercise of undue market power over consumers. The CMA exists purely to investigate market failures and make regulatory proposals if firms are taking unfair advantages over consumers.
Investigation into dentistry is long overdue.
Also wait until you see private medical prices, I had a consultant first appointment and my insurance covered the £200 fee for a 30 minute chat
Oh she’s going to add vat on it (dunno if it is). That’ll fix the dentists like it’s clearly fixed the schools. Anything left we can sell