Medical aid for cousins and friends launched

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Tuesday August 28, 2012 00:00

Subscribers and their beneficiaries are expected to start benefitting from the medical aid from October 2012. The scheme also does not prescribe the number of dependants.   The medical aid offers 20 percent cash back if a member does not make a claim for a continuous period of three years. The citizen-owned establishment covers 90 percent of medical costs.

It has three packages; basic cover, which offers P20,000 per year, classic cover with a limit of P120,000 a year while the executive package offers P185,000 a year.

The director of the medical aid, Kenosi Radiporo said in an interview yesterday in Gaborone that they appreciate the fact that Batswana are from extended families. He said that they aim to provide a service that will be convenient to a Motswana.

Subscribers can register whomever they choose as principal cardholders. This flexibility allows for access to good health care service without  explaining how the subscriber is related to the beneficiary.

'We do not even want you to explain the relationship, they are entered only as dependents. We only need the subscriber to commit to paying premiums,' he explained.  He, however, pointed out that this would not be a haphazard arrangement as there are terms and conditions in place.  The medical aid, respects African values, he said, and would not stop subscribers from accessing medical help from wherever they choose, including traditional doctors.

'We do know that there are traditional doctors that can treat ailments like phogwana, ngope and thobega,' he said. He pointed out that they will only be working with traditional doctors registered with the Botswana Dingaka Association. The association is recognised by the Ministry of Health.  'If traditional doctors want to make any claims from us, they will first have to register with the association,' he said.  He pointed out that they will not entertain witchcraft as well as clients who want to increase or decrease body organs. 

'We are looking at treatment of diseases that we know can be treated the traditional way,' he said.  Currently, the medical aid is in negotiations with the association to find the best way to pay doctors.

'We prefer to deal with the association on behalf of traditional doctors. We went to pay the doctor through the association. However, this is still to be decided,' he said.  The medical aid is regulated by the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority and administered by UNIGEM, a Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions-owned company.