Who Has the Best Medical Aid Scheme – and the Worst?
Each year the SA Customer Satisfaction Index (SACSI) does a survey of the best and worst medical schemes. At the end of 2016, consumers ranked Liberty Health as the leading medical scheme in the country.
Liberty’s score of 76.9 out of a possible score of 100 is a major achievement. Their service in 2014 was below par and its strides to the top of the leader board in three short years had people taking note.
Best and Worst medical Schemes
The survey pinpoints healthcare leaders with the highest customer satisfaction rate throughout the country. The overall sample was obtained from 2,105 private healthcare members who scored overall health insurance firms at 74.2.
This ranking, however, remained almost unchanged compared with the previous year’s survey, showing little in the way of forward strides.
The Six companies that Took part in the Survey –
The CSI included six medical scheme firms in the survey. Their scores were as follows:
- Liberty Health – 76.9
- Momentum Health – 75.6
- Bonitas – 75.2
- Discovery Health – 74.1
- Medihelp – 70.7
- GEMS (Government Employees Medical Scheme) – 67.5
Liberty, Momentum and Bonitas all managed to score above the industry average of 74.2 out of a possible 100. Discovery Health missed staying above the line by a mere 0.1 percent.
Not so Good
Scores achieved by both Medihelp and GEMS fell into the well below par category.
In particular, the CSI viewed as very concerning the score achieved by GEMS. This medical scheme had suffered a decline of seven points in its customer satisfaction ranking since 2014.
Survey categories
The CSI survey pinpointed customer satisfaction with three categories of medical aid:
- Comprehensive – 76.1
- Hospital Plans – 72.2
- Network options – 70.3
Rejected claims
Customer satisfaction with medical claim rejections plummeted to a disastrous 63.3 low.
Public perception
Meanwhile, the overall public perception of medical schemes in South Africa was far from satisfactory, according to the CSI. Customers said that the cost of private health care in the country was a “grudge purchase”.
For this reason, medical schemes should strive to improve their status with fresh product offers to achieve client satisfaction.
The CSI said last year’s 1.3 declines in value as scored by 2,105 members who took part in the survey, was not helped by the economy and lack of perceived customer value.
Of the six medical schemes under the survey spotlight, only Liberty and Momentum Health increased their value status in the annual comparison. Most types of insurance in South Africa have similar customer satisfaction ratings.
According to the CSI, only short-term and life insurance policies have achieved a slightly better satisfaction rating.
All info was correct at time of publishing