It's found South Africans are paying more for private healthcare than ever before.

Rising costs, overutilisation of private health services and monopolisation by three groups, make private healthcare unaffordable for most.

Shafrudeen Amond, a medical law consultant says many people don't understand their medical aid plans.

"South Africans have definitely been paying more than they should. These findings articulate just who the culprits are. One of the reasons why the cost of healthcare has spiralled out of control is because the regulators have not stepped in to ensure that service providers are taken to task on this."

The Competition Commission has released its final findings and recommendations of its healthcare market inquiry.

The private healthcare market is also characterised by highly concentrated funders and uninformed consumers.  

The inquiry was initiated in 2013 following concerns that very few South Africans could afford private healthcare and that prices were rising above inflation.

Preliminary findings established that existing service providers were anti-competitive.

eNCA