At Bonitas we continue to look for innovative solutions
so that we are able to offer you quality healthcare at
affordable prices. When you turn to page 10 to read more
about the product line up for 2020 you will notice that
new benefits have been introduced and BonFit has had a
name change to BonFit Select. We have also negotiated
with our strategic partners to enhance and increase their
value-added offerings. Some of these are featured on
page 21 and 22.
We have tried to balance these offerings against the
monthly premium, but inevitably there has to be an
increase in contributions. The increases range from 6.2%
through to 11.9%, with an average weighted increase
across our plans of 9.9%. But let me also point out that
average increase on risk contributions is 9.4%.
Lee Callakoppen
Principal Officer
Wishing you and
your loved ones all
the best for 2020
I’m sure you are all looking forward to the end of year
break. It has been a long and stressful year for South
Africans as we have dealt with poor economic growth,
elections, increased consumer prices and the effect of
unemployment on our country. But we remain optimistic
about the future and I’m confident about the year ahead.
You will have seen a great deal of coverage about the
introduction of the National Health Insurance (NHI)
Bill by the Department of Health. While we support
the initiative and are open to discussions with various
stakeholders on how to make it a viable healthcare
solution for South Africa, I would like to reassure you
that there is much work to be done before the Bill is
introduced. Until then, it is business as usual and the role
of private medical aids remains as important as ever.
One of our key initiatives for 2020, is an enhanced
Wellness Extender benefit on all options, except BonCap,
which can be accessed after completing a wellness
screening test. This benefit can be used across a range of
services from GP consultations to physiotherapy, and will
be extended in 2020 to include blood tests and x-rays.
Claims for these will first be paid from the Wellness
Extender benefit, without impacting day-to-day benefits
or savings, thereby stretching these savings even further.
To ensure easy access for all to the Wellness Extender
benefit, the screening partner will be expanding
screening locations to include Dis-Chem and Clicks
clinics, as well as offering various activations and family
wellness days in remote areas.
In looking at members’ needs, it’s clear you require
additional out-of-hospital benefits for daily medical and
day-to-day expenses such as acute medicine, blood tests
and x-rays. On some plans, day-to-day benefits have been
increased while on others the savings portion has been
increased. On other options, the dental benefit has been
restructured - and in some cases, GP visits have been
increased.
Managed Care remains a key focus for us and there have
been some great success stories as a result. The DBC
back and neck programme has a 91% success rate and
around 3 200 members have completed it – with only 5%
requiring surgery.
Looking ahead at 2020, I’m very excited about some new
initiatives that will be rolled out.
But for now, as 2019 draws to a close, I wish you and your
families a peaceful festive season. Read our tips on how
to have a healthy, happy holiday on page 27.
Lee
Page 2