Scheme Background and Review:
Genesis Medical Scheme was established in 1995 and is classified as a medium-sized scheme.
Their solvency far exceeded the legal minimum requirements and they were also classified amongst the top 5 open medical aid schemes in South Africa. They have in excess of R200 million, which is 4x more than the legal requirement.
Genesis is a self-administered scheme, which leads to their administration costs being of the lowest in the industry.
When reading the profile of Genesis on Twitter, it gives a clear understanding about how the scheme operates. It reads as follows:
“Never heard of us? Well that’s kinda the point….we don’t waste members money on massive advertising. We stick to offering brilliant & affordable medical aid!”
Product Review:
Genesis tries to keep it simple by only having four plan options, namely Private Choice, Private, Private Plus and Private Comprehensive.
The Private Choice is a HOSPITAL PLAN only, and the most affordable of the options.
The core benefits are slightly different from the others including:
| √ | Unlimited hospital cover, at any private or state hospital of choice |
| √ | Emergency pre-hospital treatment, evacuation and transport within South Africa |
| √ | Cover for major medical illnesses – out of hospital benefits limited to statutory prescribed minimum benefits (“PMB’s”) |
| √ | Cover for basic dentistry – R25 000 per beneficiary per annum |
3 of the 4 plans, namely Private, Private Plus and Private Comprehensive have the same core benefits.
These include:
| √ | Unlimited hospital cover, at any private or state hospital of your choosing |
| √ | Cover for basic dentistry – R25 000 per beneficiary per annum |
| √ | Emergency pre-hospital treatment, evacuation and transport within South Africa |
| √ | A benefit for diagnostic scopes. |
| √ | Cover for certain major medical illness, such as cancer or stroke, up to R550 000 per person per annum |
Private offers only the above as it is a HOSPITAL PLAN only.
Private Plus and Private Comprehensive further to the core benefit also provide day-to-day benefits which include medical savings, consultation benefits and prescribed and/or over-the-counter medicines.
CONTRIBUTIONS 2012
| CONTRIBUTIONS | PRIVATE CHOICE | PRIVATE | PRIVATE PLUS | PRIVATE COMPREHENSIVE |
| Adult | R750 per month | R1 115 per month | R1 350 per month | R1 965 per month |
| First child dependant | R320 per month | R320 per month | R320 per month | R320 per month |
| Each additional child dependant | R60 per month | R60 per month | R60 per month | R60 per month |
Unique Features:
Many medical schemes, in the process of trying to reduce costs have restricted the use of hospitals and service providers, in a way forcing members to make use of pre-chosen providers.
Members on all Genesis options have the luxury to choose their own hospital and their own doctor.
Genesis offers no-frills and have easy-to-understand benefit options.
Child dependant rates are exceptionally well positioned in the market with a flat rate across all options of R320 per month for the first child and R60 per month for each additional child.
A further exceptional and unique benefit across all options must definitely be the R25 000 basic dentistry benefit, which includes consultations, fillings, tooth extractions, x-rays and root canal treatment.
Comparison with Other medical Aid Schemes:
When comparing Genesis Medical Scheme with some of the bigger medical schemes in South Africa, it’s clear that the size of a medical scheme does make a difference.
If you belong to one of the bigger schemes, you often feel like you are merely a number. Every time you phone in you end up speaking to another call centre employee.
At Genesis that’s not the case. You are treated as a real person, by a real person. As the scheme’s administration is done in-house, the service is a lot more personal.
Many of the bigger schemes including Discovery, Momentum and Fedhealth have so many options that it actually makes your head spin just trying to count how many options you can choose from!
Then there are the additional wellness programmes to attract new members, which can also be a bit complicated to understand.
With Genesis the attraction is in the simplicity of their plans. Some people really just want to keep it simple, and if you are one of those who want exactly that, then Genesis is definitely the scheme to look at.
Information regarding Genesis Medical Scheme sourced from the Genesis Medical Scheme website.
