ACCC will not oppose Westpac's proposed HealthPoint takeover
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The news: Australia's competition regulator said it will not oppose Westpac's proposed acquisition of payment application HealthPoint as NAB-owned HICAPS is the largest supplier of private health insurance claiming.
The context: HealthPoint, which links patients, healthcare providers and financial institutions at the point of sale, is currently owned by healthcare software provider Dedalus. The value of the deal, which would see HealthPoint become a subsidiary of Westpac and continue to provide services to its existing partners, was not disclosed.
The ACCC's review focused on whether the proposed acquisition would provide Westpac with the ability or incentive to inhibit competing banking and channel partners' use of the HealthPoint application. The only alternative to HealthPoint is HICAPS, which is wholly owned and exclusive to Westpac's banking rival NAB, and is the largest supplier of private health insurance point of sale claiming services.
Westpac, meanwhile, is the only major Australian bank that does not currently offer an integrated healthcare e-claiming and payment solution.
When Westpac announced that it had entered into an agreement to buy HealthPoint on 2 November 2023 its shares lifted more than 2%.
What they said: ACCC commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said: “Most market participants were not concerned by the proposed acquisition because HICAPS is the significantly largest supplier of private health insurance claiming and settlement services".
“As owner of HealthPoint, Westpac is likely to have an incentive to work with existing banking and channel partners to maintain and grow health services provider volumes to compete with HICAPS," he added.
“The ACCC carefully examined the arrangements between HealthPoint, Westpac, banking and channel partners and private health insurers. We have concluded that this acquisition is unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition."
The source: ACCC media release
