Hollard partners with leading private healthcare provider to facilitate access to affordable and quality healthcare
Hollard Life Solutions has partnered with Netcare to underwrite a healthcare funding solution – NetcarePlus Accident and Trauma Cover – that the private healthcare provider has introduced to the market to provide hassle-free access to private emergency and trauma care.
The new funding option seeks to make private healthcare easily accessible and more affordable for millions of South Africans who do not have medical aid cover. The Accident and Trauma product housed under the NetcarePlus brand is an insurance product that guarantees stabilisation at the scene of an accident or trauma event and Netcare 911 transportation to a contracted private hospital. Another important benefit is that it also includes access to unlimited in-hospital treatment for up to 90 days for accident and trauma related medical care.
The package also includes associated services following from an accident such as pathology and radiology and 24-hour trauma counselling services. The cover also includes regular lump sum payments if the accident results in the person being hospitalised for two days or more. Completing the picture, assistance with Road Accident Fund claims are also included, where needed.
According to the latest statistics released by StatsSA, the percentage of individuals covered by a medical aid scheme increased marginally from 15.9% to 17.1% in 2016, before declining to 16.4% in 2018. During the period under review between 2016 and 2018, the number of individuals who are covered by a medical aid scheme increased from 7.3 million to 9.4 million people.
Besa Ruele, CEO: Hollard Life Solutions, says the partnership between Hollard and Netcare is a meeting of minds that harnesses the synergies between financial inclusion and access to quality healthcare.
“We are pleased to be a part of this innovative answer to reducing the funding challenges many South Africans grapple with. NetcarePlus products offer a unique mechanism providing reassurance that access to private healthcare is secured before it is needed. Hollard is a solutions-driven insurer and we partnered with NetcarePlus to find gaps that exist in the market and resolve them with imagination and innovation so we can create positive and enduring change for South Africans. This partnership will ensure that we enable more people to create and secure a better future for themselves and their family members because of the unique design of this product range,” says Ruele.
Ruele adds that Hollard is pleased to be part of ongoing efforts to drive financial inclusion. “We have been at the forefront of providing innovative and customised financial solutions that cover every conceivable challenge and aspect of life. Access to quality healthcare is now more important than ever, and this has been bought into sharp focus by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has laid bare our mortality as human beings and has reminded us of the importance of having access to quality healthcare.
As a company that has been at the forefront of developing solutions that mitigate against life’s unexpected eventualities, we are acutely conscious of the importance of preparing for challenges that life throws our way. Currently, millions of people cannot afford private healthcare and have to rely on over-stretched public health facilities. The NetcarePlus products are the next logical step that consumers should consider for an added peace of mind. We believe that our unrivalled experience in providing financial services solutions will bode well for NetcarePlus customers,” says Ruele.
Consumers have a choice on how and where to buy the NetcarePlus Accident and Trauma product either through intermediaries as well as a user-friendly, secure online application platform (https://bit.ly/3fg9p4F) where individuals can get a quote and activate their cover.
In addition to this insurance product, NetcarePlus further broadens access to private healthcare through their prepaid GP vouchers product and planned prepaid procedures product that provide an affordable solution for certain medical procedures at an all-in cost.
Teshlin Akaloo, managing director of Netcare’s Innovative Products division says, “Quality healthcare should be inclusive and yet the financial pressures that many employed people are facing means that private healthcare is simply out of their reach.”
“Access to quality healthcare when a person most needs it protects livelihoods and longer-term health. This new and affordable way for South Africans to get private healthcare will be supported by a range of innovative products to enable employers and individuals to purchase healthcare services as and when required. These products can either serve as stand-alone options for those who are uninsured or as a practical add-on to existing cover.”
“The partnership with Netcare is a meeting of minds that complements the objectives that both brands seek to achieve. It demonstrates the milestones that like-minded can achieve when they work together towards a common goal,” concludes Ruele.
Note: The NetcarePlus Accident and Trauma product is underwritten by The Hollard Insurance Company Limited (Hollard), a licensed non-life insurer and an authorised financial services provider. This cover is not a medical scheme, and the cover is not the same as that of a medical scheme. This insurance product is not a substitute for medical scheme membership.
