Heritage Health Medical Aid Fund Newsletter 4 for 2018

On behalf of the Board of Trustees we wish you a Blessed Festive Season and Good Health during 2019. We thank you for your continued support. You will note that we have amended the branding of Heritage Health reflecting a healthy and vibrant lifestyle for 2019. To all our new members, welcome on board and we look forward to being of service to you.

Introducing You to Digital Healthcare 2019

Heritage Health is offering a Self-Service Portal through a mobile application to all Heritage Health members as from 2019. As a valued member you will have easy access to key contact details, details confirming your benefit options, statements, available benefits and other great features unique for Heritage Health members only.

• Submit claims by simply snapping a picture of the invoice and receipt (where applicable) with your phone’s camera and make sure the whole page is readable and then submit.
• Submit queries relating to a document in your feed or a general enquiry. The information Feed includes a list of recent interactions between yourself and Heritage Health including recent statements etc.

TELEMEDICINE and HOW YOU will BENEFIT

TELEMEDICINE implies “healing at a distance” and is the use of technology to overcome geographical barriers and increase access to healthcare services due to geographic location including after hours.

As a member of Heritage Health where you have opted for a benefit plan which includes out of hospital (day-to-day) benefits you will be covered for making use of the TELEMEDICINE cover. It is important that you study your benefits. By calling the number +264 81 455 0945 you will have access to medical expertise quickly, efficiently and without travel. If you do have out of hospital benefits you need to have your Heritage Health membership number at hand as you will be asked to provide this number to verify authenticity.

Rewarding a Healthy Lifestyle

Activate.Me is the newly launched Lifestyle Program that assists healthy those members of Heritage Health with living a healthy Lifestyle with incentives that provide real-life tangible rewards.

People joining Activate.Me will receive a membership card and which serves as proof to obtain the various rewards. It is all about discovering, becoming knowledgeable, growing and experiencing the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and applying your mind to it. Heritage members automatically become members of Activate.Me.

Persons who join Activate.Me will have the benefit of the following four pillars:

1. EDUCATION

The modules for the education of medical aid members aims to educate members on healthy life styles and provide basic information on diseases and medication.

The Chronic Disease courses that have assessments will be on the Medical Practice Consulting (MPC) website at:
http://www.mpc.healthcare

As a member of Heritage Health, you will be able to gain access to this information in January 2019.

2. PHYSICAL EXERCISE

A Biometric Wristband is available for those members of Heritage Health who do wish to actively participate by applying a daily healthy lifestyle. The fitness tracker will track your vital signs and active lifestyle. Members will be encouraged to use their Auxiliary benefits to attend the healthcare services provided by Biokineticists where personal attention is given to own physical exercise programs while being monitored to achieve results. Persons who are obese and require surgery, especially knee and hip replacements often are subjected to losing weight first and Activate.Me will assist you.

By downloading the applicable Application, the fitness tracker will measure your daily steps, distance, calories, achievement of daily goals, auto sleep tracking, call and SMS alert, vibration clock, blood pressure monitoring, real-time heart rate monitoring, abnormal heart rate alert, HRV report supported, fatigue and Pressure index analysis, vascular clogging and all-day activity tracking.

Members who do wish to acquire a fitness tracker will be required to complete the applicable form and will undertake to provide a weekly report every Friday to Heritage Health where the data will be integrated to your membership portfolio and which will be available for your general practitioner or any other healthcare discipline and which you will be able to share with them.

3. HEALTHY EATING

Healthy eating commences at a young age. Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer), and promote your overall health. Eating a healthy, balanced diet plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight, which is an important part of overall good health. Being overweight or obese can lead to health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Being underweight could also affect your health.

Members will be encouraged to use their Auxiliary benefits under their day to day benefits to attend the healthcare services provided by registered Dieticians where personal attention is given to your diet shortfalls and which can be monitored to achieve results. It is not always about losing weight but to eat healthy and maintain a healthy body.

Healthy Eating guidelines developed by dieticians will be available on the online education programs of Medical Practice Consulting.

The administration services of Heritage Health resorts under Janus Investments (Pty) Ltd and where the principle shareholder is AVACARE HEALTH GROUP who is established in twenty-three countries globally. Being involved with the administration of Heritage Health they provide specific benefits to the Heritage Health members and which the other medical aid funds do not have now. Apart from their team of clinicians, pharmacists, etc they have made available to the Heritage Health members the AVALIFE holistic natural solutions targeting specific health concerns, improving the body’s overall health and wellness and to combat stress and includes a paediatric range, cholesterol control, Diabetes support and various vitamins. These items are available at pharmacies and if your pharmacy does not have a specific item which you would like to use, they are able to obtain it from NAMPHARM and GEKA for you.

4. WELLNESS

Heritage Health offers Wellness Benefits on all the plans, allowing members to have access to certain preventative screening tests and which is paid from the in-hospital cover thereby extending the day-to-day benefits. Preventive care is the care you receive to prevent illnesses or diseases. Providing these services, such as screenings and immunizations, can help you and your family stay healthy.

Under the Activate.Me lifestyle wellness benefits in the form of wellness programs is available to employer groups who have joined Heritage Health. Today wellness programs are common among both medium and small-sized businesses. When done correctly, wellness programs give employees incentives, tools, social support, privacy, and strategies to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Corporate companies who have implemented organised Wellness Benefits for their employees have experienced improvement in employee health behaviors, reduce health risks, reduce healthcare costs, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and help sustain high employee morale.

Corporate companies who have joined Heritage Health are advised to contact the Administrator for more information. These services are also available for corporate companies who have not joined Heritage Health. These services will be provided by clinicians.

YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY AS A MEMBER OF YOUR MEDICAL AID FUND

Being a member of a medical aid fund entails that you are required to be responsible and accountable when it comes to the utilisation of your benefits during 2019 as it will form an essential part when actuaries calculate the increases at the end of 2019 for 2020. We encourage you to download the Self-Service Portal in January 2019 and to scrutinize all your invoices and payments diligently and where discrepancies are detected to immediately report it to the Administrator for further investigation. The costs of benefit over utilisation and abuse forms a key part of the annual increases – be a smart member.

Some Useful Points for 2019

During 2019 please remember the following points as a member of Heritage Health:

• When Travelling outside Namibia you must first contact the Administrator to obtain your travel insurance letter and you will be required to provide a copy of your passport and travel arrangements.
• When you have a chronic condition and require chronic medication you will need to provide a copy of a valid perscription and the item(s) will first need to be registered.
• When you require any hospital admission it is important that you first familiarise yourself with the available benefits and you must first obtain a pre-authorisation before you go to the hospital.
• You ultimately remain responsible for the payment of all invoices and it remains your responsibility to ensure that invoices are being submitted within less than four months from date of service to be processed. Where no benefits are available you will remain responsible for all such payments.
• It is important to note that apart from the heritage health Self-Service Portal Application which you can download and you are also able to register via the website under Members Login to gain access to all your information and which includes viewing benefits, invoices submitted and processed and the relating reimbursement statements.
• ALWAYS only use the following email address when communicating with the Administrator:
  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and the information will automatically reflect on the system and a track record is readily available.