Equipping brokers with a more nuanced understanding of the medical schemes environment saves advisors time and effort and ultimately secures better value for members. The complex and ever-shifting world of healthcare funding demands more than a stack of brochures to empower brokers to ensure their clients are optimally satisfied and covered from every angle.
“All too frequently, medical schemes overlook the intrinsic value of building brokers’ understanding in a concrete and meaningful way. We have a responsibility to support advisors effectively,” says Bianca Viljoen, spokesperson for HEALTH SQUARED medical scheme.
According to Viljoen, the industry has tended to make assumptions that brokers are necessarily au fait with all relevant intricate healthcare funding background in sufficient detail.
“Industry regulations and protocols are often oversimplified to the point that crucial details are omitted, fueling misunderstanding, unnecessary paperwork and frustration for brokers and their medical scheme member clients alike. We need to make the industry more accessible so that they can advise their clients from a solid foundation of understanding.
“When brokers are equipped with the industry basics, they gain better insight for positioning products and fulfilling their clients’ needs. This quality of advice guides members to purchase the right cover that is appropriate for their circumstances, which provides greater satisfaction,” she explains.
HEALTH SQUARED is already stepping up in this regard through its regular Industry 101 broker training sessions, which are held at least once per term for brokers in each region.
“With this understanding, brokers are well equipped to advise their clients about the protocols they must follow to avoid co-payments and make the best use of their benefits.
Once aware of these principles, brokers are well placed to select a mix of products to achieve maximum value from the required cover for their client. The benefits for brokers of a medical scheme that can seamlessly integrate with group risk insurance as part of a single solution then becomes fully apparent.
“Brokers save time when administration processes are streamlined with one single point of contact across multiple products. This allows for a much simpler claims process and avoids the problem of overlapping or duplicate cover.”
The ease of use and broad relevance of our medical scheme products for employer groups means that advisors to corporate clients will find that it is easier than ever to encompass even the most diverse needs within a single simple solution.
“For instance, employer groups enrolled on our scheme have access to the entry-level Core Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which provides employees with unlimited telephonic support services including health advice, assistance with financial matters, psycho-social assistance and legal advice. During the national lockdown, many corporate clients have found these services and the crucial support they provide to staff members particularly valuable.
“With informed guidance from advisors who have an understanding of medical schemes regulations and protocols on top of this, the return on premiums for individual members and corporates alike are truly maximised,” she says.
A key advantage for brokers and their clients, is the unique ease of cross-product integration an affordable, yet comprehensive, tailormade health insurance and rewards solution, which increases the value of their cover even further.
“For example, on certain options, members can extend their primary healthcare and basic dentistry benefits at no additional cost through opting to access these services via a dedicated network of providers. Brokers can therefore advise that through following the simplest of protocols, families enrolled on these options can access cover for additional consultations, which signifies a very powerful value proposition in the current financial climate.
“Ensuring members have access to primary healthcare services promotes better health both now and for the future and has self-evident benefits for the individual while reinforcing the sustainability of the scheme. Corporate clients appreciate the value this adds from a human capital risk management perspective, further reinforcing the business case when advisors present these options,” Viljoen says.
“Knowledge is power, and HEALTH SQUARED is committed to partnering with brokers as we believe this has far-reaching benefits for all concerned. Members are empowered to be healthier, employers achieve improved productivity, thereby stimulating the economy, while the sustainability of the scheme is supported.”
