By Kuda Pembere
Salutem International Medical Fund and NetOne through its mobile money platform One Money on Tuesday launched a medical aid scheme where all Zimbabweans can pay as little as US$1-a-month.
The Salutem One Health scheme also intends to end the hassles services providers of long waiting periods to get paid for their services by medical aid funds.
Under this scheme, subscribers have access to basic primary health care services which include the basic general practitioner consultations alongside getting generic medicines. The medical aid product has a three-month waiting period where new members must maintain consistent subscription payments.
“At Salutem, our intention has always been clear, to ensure that every Zimbabwean, regardless of their financial situation, has access to quality healthcare. We understand the challenges that many face when it comes to accessing healthcare, which has left over 14 million Zimbabweans without any form of medical cover.
“This in turn has led to congestion at public centers and added pressure to the fiscus. It is against this background, ladies and gentlemen, that we have introduced our innovative $1 product, the One Health, a ground-breaking offering designed to provide essential healthcare coverage at an affordable cost,” said Salutem managing director Mr Ruka Nyoka at a press briefing.
He added that this medical cover intends to increase the collaboration of private health service providers with medical aid funds.
To this end, we are creating a safe corridor for the citizens of Zimbabwe to access private doctors and pharmacists across the country using the One Money card as their medical aid card.
“The participating doctors and pharmacists shall be paid instantly in real time. Gone are the days where the health providers and doctors have to wait for more than 60 days to get their monies. It only takes them 60 seconds to receive their money and making health care affordable and cheaper.
“Through this collaboration, we are keen to see the increase in activity in private health care space and opening it for the new group of doctors seeking private practice,”
Mr Nyoka said adding they will be working with all doctors in this country.
Mr Nyoka said this medical cover is not a reserve for One Money subscribers but all Zimbabweans noting that they will also be working with the more than 8 000 service providers under the Association of Healthcare Funders in Zimbabwe (AHFoZ).
“Remember our medical aid card, the one-money card, is just as good as cash. So, there’s no doctor or any service provider who will refuse to get cash.
“So, the One Health product looks at primary health care, what we call primary health care. So, you’re able to go to a doctor, or you can go to a nurse, or you can go to a clinic once a month, and you access what we call generic drugs of up to $30 a month.
“So that’s what you’re able to access with this. You won’t be able to access things like hospitalization or chronic drugs. It’s just generic drugs, and access to a doctor for consultation,” he said.
NetOne Group Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Raphael Mushanawani in a speech read on his behalf by One Money Operations manager Mrs Nancy Murove underscored the crucial role of the partnership in promoting universal healthcare access.
“This collaboration with Salutem reflects our collective response to the need for expanded healthcare coverage in Zimbabwe, where many citizens are currently without medical cover.
“Together, we aim to extend quality healthcare access nationwide, a fundamental step toward Universal Healthcare,” said Engineer Mushanawani.
Key features of the product include:
- Real-time claims processing and instant payments to healthcare providers
- Registration of unlimited dependents with no age restrictions
- Nationwide access to general practitioners and pharmacies
- Self-service claim processing through mobile application or USSD (*501#) – WhatsApp integration for claims processing.
