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ADVERTORIAL A new range of plans offers affordable, quality health care to more South Africans
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eing healthy and living a good quality life is at the top of most people’s wishlists. To achieve this, it’s important to have the right physical, emotional, mental and even financial support. The latter includes making an informed decision about medical aid to ensure the most appropriate healthcare cover. Lee Callakoppen, principal officer of Bonitas Medical Fund, says the Scheme is always looking for ways to increase value for its members, “be it through competitive plan design, introducing new benefits, to innovation in how we communicate and engage with them”. Bonitas has taken steps to achieve just this in the year ahead. It has used around R600m of its reserves to keep member contributions lower, introduced a “Benefit Booster” to stretch day-to-day benefits and revised its international travel benefits. It has also ensured a renewed focus on preventive care, virtual consultations, home-based care and a range of plans that enable more South Africans to have access to affordable, quality healthcare. “A positive offshoot of the pandemic was an increased appreciation of the importance of medical aid cover,” reveals Callakoppen. “For Bonitas this resulted in better-thanexpected member retention and a 2.3% membership growth. We want to be the medical aid that walks alongside our members on their path to health.” The strategic decision to use R600m of the Scheme’s reserves means 82% of members receive a below consumer price index (CPI) contribution increase for the 2022 benefit year. The average weighted contribution increase across all plans is 4.8%, with the BonStart premium — a cost-effective plan designed for economically active singles living in larger metros — decreasing by 7.9%. This is attributed to the low cost-versusbenefits ratio and the younger membership
MEDICAL AID DONE DIFFERENTLY profile on the plan. This decrease is an industry first — as was the decision to offer BonFit Select at a 0% increase in 2021. In total, Bonitas is offering 15 plans for the year ahead: Traditional, savings, hospital, Edge (virtual), network and income-based plans, each carefully crafted with a specific mix of benefits to appeal to all South Africans. A number of top line changes for the year ahead have been made. BonStart, the inaugural Edge plan introduced this year with virtual care as its base, has proved to be highly successful. BonStart Plus, a plan which is aimed at a new profile of member with pricing starting at R1,670, is being introduced in 2022. “Virtual care has proved to be a sound and reliable solution for improving access to quality healthcare and is now offered across
all plans,” says Callakoppen. Furthermore, a new Oncology Management Programme for the treatment of cancer is being introduced. The programme uses a partnership between Medscheme Managed Healthcare and the South African Oncology Consortium (SAOC), to improve the co-ordination of care of oncology patients. Bonitas’ back and neck programme has a 93% success rate. In 2022, the Scheme will give members access to the e-DBC app. The technology-driven channel offers digital coaching solutions and home-based care to help improve pain and mobility as well as self-assessment, baseline progress checks and outcomes evaluation. A new personalised wellness and lifestyle programme, AMP, is now available on the Bonitas app, which provides members with
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13 LifeStyle
28•11•2021
Sunday Times
access to their health information. Biometric data, claims and wearable data are used to regularly update their health score while an avatar nudges them on the best steps to take to boost their health. In addition, through a partnership with Avo by Nedbank, members can access good deals across groceries, technology products, professional home services, takeaways, prepaid services and so much more. Callakoppen says a frequent request from members is for more tangible benefits. “We listened and have introduced the innovative Benefit Booster which equates to an increase in day-to-day benefits ranging from 16% to 32%, depending on the member’s plan. We believe it is the largest increase in benefits ever seen in the medical aid industry as the Scheme is providing members with R446m worth of additional benefits that can be used to fund acute medication, specialist consultations or even non-surgical procedures.” All members need to do to tap into the Benefit Booster is to complete a wellness assessment which can be done online. Claims will pay from this benefit first — helping to preserve savings and day-to-day benefits for members. To ensure members are covered when they travel, Bonitas has enhanced the existing international travel benefit to include a Covid19 PCR test pre- and post-travel, as well as a contribution of up to R1,000 a day should quarantine be required. Callakoppen says the Scheme’s future remains focused on delivering quality healthcare for members, ensuring that member contributions are affordable and that the Scheme remains sustainable. “Our focus on care, capability and reliability encompasses not only providing our members with the tools and preventive measures to guard against chronic conditions, but will help us redefine healthcare for a new world,” he says.