The Competition Council terminated an investigation into a doctor incentive program approved by the Akmenė District Municipality after determining that free healthcare services funded by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund are considered non-economic activities exempt from competition law regulations.

The program aimed to attract doctors of scarce specialties to work in public healthcare institutions through incentives like financial grants, study compensations, and housing provisions, available only to institutions with service agreements with the health insurance fund.

The Council assessed whether the program created unequal competition conditions by favoring municipal healthcare institutions over private ones, ultimately concluding that free services funded by the CHIF are non-economic activities not subject to competition law.

The investigation found that the program primarily aimed to ensure the provision of services funded by the CHIF and attracted a limited number of doctors, leading to the decision to terminate the investigation due to the minor significance of the established facts.

Despite the investigation's end, economic entities retain the right to seek legal recourse if they believe the municipality's actions have caused damages or unfair competition.