ANKARA, 6 April 2026 – The Turkish Competition Authority has opened a full-fledged investigation into leading insurance and healthcare providers following preliminary findings indicating potential competition law breaches in the health insurance market.
Notably, the investigation reportedly extends to major players such as Allianz, Anadolu Sigorta, AXA, Mapfre, Zurich, and Bupa Acıbadem, bringing the total number of undertakings under scrutiny to 19.
According to the Authority, the preliminary inquiry revealed serious indications that competing insurers may have:
- jointly determined, increased, or stabilised prices in health insurance policies;
- coordinated on customer, regional, or product allocation;
- engaged in exchanges of competitively sensitive information, including pricing, cost, and risk data.
Such practices, if confirmed, could amount to hard-core restrictions, raising significant concerns under Article 4 of Law No. 4054.
The investigation goes beyond horizontal conduct. The Authority is also examining agreements between insurance companies and healthcare providers, assessing whether these arrangements:
- restrict market access for rivals, or
- produce exclusionary effects in the provision of healthcare services.
In-House Insights
| For companies operating in concentrated or data-sensitive markets, the case is a clear signal: Even indirect coordination risks scrutiny: Parallel conduct combined with information exchange may be sufficient to trigger enforcement. Data sharing is high-risk territory: Pricing, cost, or risk-related exchanges—even informal—can be viewed as facilitating collusion. Vertical agreements are not immune: Partnerships with service providers (e.g. hospitals) must be carefully structured to avoid exclusionary outcomes. With the Authority increasingly focusing on ecosystem-wide conduct, companies—especially those with strong market positions—should reassess both horizontal interactions and vertical arrangements through a competition compliance lens. |
Source: https://www.rekabet.gov.tr/tr/Guncel/turkiye-de-saglik-sigortasi-pazarinda-fa-c0b2c924a531f11193f70050568585c9
