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3 October 2012

Bestmed, one of SA’s leading medical schemes, announced its range of member enhancements for 2013 in line with its strategy to deliver preventative health and meet the needs of its growing membership base.

In a drive to contain costs for members, Bestmed also announced the increase on medical scheme options for 2013, which is amongst the lowest increase announced to date by other large schemes.

Dries La Grange, Bestmed’s Principal Officer and Chief Executive commented, “We managed to curtail our increases across our nine options - without compromising the scheme - to an average of 8.99%, which was impacted by a combination of factors, including inflation, ageing, technology, medicine pricing, hospitalisation, administration costs, solvency and Prescribed Minimum Benefits (PMBs).”

According to La Grange, medical inflation is normally calculated by taking the CPI inflation rate and adding approximately 2 to 3%.

Bestmed outlined its product enhancements for its members to encourage preventative health, such as biometric screenings on all options for all beneficiaries over the age of 10 years on an annual basis at Dis-Chem and Clicks clinics countrywide. Screenings include blood pressure measurement, Body Mass Index (height and weight), and rapid testing for glucose and cholesterol.

According to La Grange, the scheme has performed well over the last year, and has increased its reserves to R777, 413, while growing its membership to 73,715 principal members and retaining a solvency of 30,22% (well above the legal limit of25%).

Bestmed’s strong financial base and reserve levels allow the scheme to ensure that contribution increases are protected against spiralling healthcare. “These statistics mean that our members experience peace of mind, knowing that their claims will always be covered, and their benefits are guaranteed”, he said.

Discussing Bestmed’s future, La Grange added, “Our strategic focus is to strengthen our current achievements by creating a sustainable business that will benefit all our members, as well as enhance our relationships with service providers to ensure access to quality healthcare. Critical to this strategy is our focus on Bestmed Wellness programme to build on our four pillars, namely Be Active; Be Nutri-wise; Be Safe and Be Happy.”

As one of the top open medical schemes in South Africa, Bestmed has been a major player in the healthcare industry for the past 48 years.

“Our move to self-administration earlier this year bodes well for all members, as our long-track record and expertise in this industry means we can negotiate with service providers to offer members benefits and services that deliver the best value rand-for-rand compared to other large open medical schemes,” said La Grange.

There are not many medical schemes that are responsible for their own administration function in South Africa. According to La Grange, Bestmed aims to contain costs through self-administration and pass the saving onto members, which is a key priority for the scheme.

To address its members’ need for choice and flexibility, Bestmed has three benefit categories, each differently structured to suit various health needs. Bestmed’s Beat, Pace and Pulse product offerings cover the entire range, from hospital cover to a more comprehensive option which covers all healthcare requirements.

Recently, Bestmed invested in improving its digital platforms, which include the launch of its new user-friendly website, which acts as a dedicated portal for members and other stakeholders to provide updated information on the various programmes and benefit options. The webmail service gives members a summary of their registered chronic medicine and conditions, as well as the three most recent claims received and assessed via email.