Business / Companies
Cimas launches low cost private hospital medical aid package
19 May 2016 at 17:35hrs | Views
Cimas Medical Aid Society has launched a new low cost private hospital medical aid package, the Classic Private Hospital package that gives members access to private healthcare at a lower cost than its standard Private Hospital package.
Announcing the launch of the new package at a press conference at Meikles Hotel in Harare today (Wednesday), Cimas group chief executive Vulindlela Ndlovu said the package had been developed to meet the growing demand for access to private hospitals at a manageable cost.
The package should, he said, make private hospital care available to a larger number of people.
In the current difficult economic environment, Mr Ndlovu said, the Society together with its members faced challenges of affordability of medical aid, an increase in health costs, deteriorating public health services and the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases, not to mention corruption and fraud.
"Most of these issues are related to the economic situation and lack of funds, whether these be insufficient funds to adequately staff and resource public health institutions or insufficient disposable income for individuals to be able to afford the health services available.
"We are aware that some members find it difficult to afford a medical aid package that meets their needs.
"We therefore have been working hard over the past few months to develop a package which meets the growing demand for access to private hospitals at a fairly manageable cost," Mr Ndlovu said.
"The result of these efforts is the package we are launching today, the Classic Private Hospital Package. Through concentrating on the benefits that are most commonly required and excluding some non-core benefits we have been able to create a package that we believe should make private hospital care available to a larger number of people," he said.
Mr Ndlovu acknowledged more needed to be done to make health services more affordable to members. He called for health funders and health service providers to come together to seek win win solutions that benefited members of the public.
Speaking on the new package Cimas Medical Aid Managing Director Roderick Takawira said the new package came with a lower contribution and gave members a global limit cover for the whole package of $20 000 per year. It also covered hospitalisation, drugs, scans, radiology, pathology, prosthetics, road and air ambulance and rehabilitative services among other benefits.
Some people on the standard Private Hospital package, he said, found that when they were retrenched they could no longer afford the package that gave them access to a private hospital. "The Cimas Classic Private Hospital package is a no frills package. It is there to ensure that it keeps you in a private hospital," Mr Takawira said.
He said that at $45 per month for an adult, the cost of the package fell halfway between the standard Private Hospital package and the General package.
He also alluded to some of the other initiatives that the Society has embarked on for the benefit of its members. These included plans to open clinics in Masvingo and Victoria Falls.
The new package brings to six the number of packages that the medical aid society offers. These are Basicare, Primary, General, the newly introduced Classic Private Hospital, Private Hospital and the premium Medexec package.
Cimas Medical Aid Society's Group Marketing Executive Nyengeterai Mahaka said the new package was the result of feedback from members and non-members.
"We are saying to our customers: ‘We have heard you and we are responding to your needs with tangible solutions, which we will be unveiling throughout the year'," she said.
She said the society's drive was to help its members and potential customers benefit from a healthcare package that was perfectly tailored to speak to their needs and those of their loved ones.
"We aim to be an all-weather healthcare provider and through such products as this Cimas Classic Private Hospital package we are able to offer the reassurance of a core cover, and the flexibility of low premiums," she said.
Announcing the launch of the new package at a press conference at Meikles Hotel in Harare today (Wednesday), Cimas group chief executive Vulindlela Ndlovu said the package had been developed to meet the growing demand for access to private hospitals at a manageable cost.
The package should, he said, make private hospital care available to a larger number of people.
In the current difficult economic environment, Mr Ndlovu said, the Society together with its members faced challenges of affordability of medical aid, an increase in health costs, deteriorating public health services and the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases, not to mention corruption and fraud.
"Most of these issues are related to the economic situation and lack of funds, whether these be insufficient funds to adequately staff and resource public health institutions or insufficient disposable income for individuals to be able to afford the health services available.
"We are aware that some members find it difficult to afford a medical aid package that meets their needs.
"We therefore have been working hard over the past few months to develop a package which meets the growing demand for access to private hospitals at a fairly manageable cost," Mr Ndlovu said.
"The result of these efforts is the package we are launching today, the Classic Private Hospital Package. Through concentrating on the benefits that are most commonly required and excluding some non-core benefits we have been able to create a package that we believe should make private hospital care available to a larger number of people," he said.
Mr Ndlovu acknowledged more needed to be done to make health services more affordable to members. He called for health funders and health service providers to come together to seek win win solutions that benefited members of the public.
Speaking on the new package Cimas Medical Aid Managing Director Roderick Takawira said the new package came with a lower contribution and gave members a global limit cover for the whole package of $20 000 per year. It also covered hospitalisation, drugs, scans, radiology, pathology, prosthetics, road and air ambulance and rehabilitative services among other benefits.
Some people on the standard Private Hospital package, he said, found that when they were retrenched they could no longer afford the package that gave them access to a private hospital. "The Cimas Classic Private Hospital package is a no frills package. It is there to ensure that it keeps you in a private hospital," Mr Takawira said.
He said that at $45 per month for an adult, the cost of the package fell halfway between the standard Private Hospital package and the General package.
He also alluded to some of the other initiatives that the Society has embarked on for the benefit of its members. These included plans to open clinics in Masvingo and Victoria Falls.
The new package brings to six the number of packages that the medical aid society offers. These are Basicare, Primary, General, the newly introduced Classic Private Hospital, Private Hospital and the premium Medexec package.
Cimas Medical Aid Society's Group Marketing Executive Nyengeterai Mahaka said the new package was the result of feedback from members and non-members.
"We are saying to our customers: ‘We have heard you and we are responding to your needs with tangible solutions, which we will be unveiling throughout the year'," she said.
She said the society's drive was to help its members and potential customers benefit from a healthcare package that was perfectly tailored to speak to their needs and those of their loved ones.
"We aim to be an all-weather healthcare provider and through such products as this Cimas Classic Private Hospital package we are able to offer the reassurance of a core cover, and the flexibility of low premiums," she said.
Source - Agencies
