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Health
Chat.
Your regular catch-up with UniMed.
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Member edition #12 — June 2024
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Kia ora,
Welcome to our latest edition of HealthChat.
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This month find out how you can get your flu jab reimbursed, hear from one of our Members about their MoleMap experience and other health updates. We also discuss how Members' use of health insurance has increased significantly over the past year.
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HealthCheck.
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We shared with you earlier our plans to transfer the Accuro membership to UniMed.
This occurred on 31 May 2024, meaning we are now the third largest health insurer in NZ with more than 140,000 members – committed to our purpose of helping to keep New Zealanders in lifelong good health.
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For our existing UniMed Members, please rest assured that your current health cover remains unchanged. The benefits and services you have come to rely on will continue seamlessly. Taking on the Accuro brand allows us to expand our capabilities and continue to deliver on our promise to meet your health needs more effectively, now and in the future.
To help our members make informed health decisions, we have recently developed a handy checklist of questions to assist you during your next health visit, whether it’s to a doctor, specialist, or another health professional. This resource is designed to help you navigate those tricky questions and ensure you get the most out of your appointments.
Members continue to make good use of our online Smart Claim service.
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Thank you for your feedback on your experience using Smart Claim. In response we are making a series of improvements to provide you with extra functionality. Stay tuned for more information on this in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your continued trust in UniMed. We are here to support your health and wellbeing, today and always. With the pressures facing our health sector, having access to private options has never been more important. Linked to this, we are seeing a significant increase in members using their insurance to access private options.
If you’d like to chat through anything in the health, wellness or preventative care space, please feel free to email me anytime at ceo@unimed.co.nz.
Ngā mihi nui,
Louise Zacest
Chief Executive
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As a not-for-profit organisation, UniMed's focus is on people not profit. However, we must address the realities of rising healthcare costs. Demand for private health services has surged. In the past year alone, we have processed 45% more claims and paid out over $111 million, marking a 26% increase from the previous year. The cost of procedures is also increasing with medical inflation currently at around 12-14%.
These figures underscore the critical role health insurance plays in providing access to necessary services.
Our goal is to help you continue to access the health and wellbeing services you need while keeping premiums as affordable as possible.
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While UniMed has absorbed rising costs over the past year, we now need to pass on some of these increases to Members to ensure the sustainability of your Society. This step is essential to continue supporting your health needs in the future.
We understand that premium increases come at a challenging time, as many people are facing broader cost of living pressures. We encourage you to review your plan to ensure it still suits your needs. Our commitment is to keep premium increases as low as possible while continuing to ensure your plan provides needed cover. We also seek to provide extra value through special Member offers.
Keep reading to see how you can make the most of your UniMed Membership.
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Health Benefits.
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At UniMed, we care about your health and wellbeing, that's why we're offering all our Members subsidised flu shots. The flu vaccine is available from 1 April each year.
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UniMed will reimburse flu shots up to $30 per person. Protect your health this winter and get your flu shot today. T&C's apply.
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We appreciate that not all Members will need to make a claim so are committed to providing a range of added value services for you to take advantage of.
This includes 20% off MoleMap skin check surveillance services.
To highlight the importance of regular skin checks, we spoke to UniMed Member John Seed about his experience with MoleMap New Zealand and how he made a life-changing discovery using his Member discount.
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Health Team.
Our team of dedicated Relationship Managers (RMs) play a pivotal part in delivering trust, personalised care and a seamless service to our Members. Meet Brett Thomson, our Relationship Manager for the South Island. With 6 years at UniMed, Brett excels in onboarding, claims assistance, and key account management. His passion lies in meeting new people and facilitating access to health care for a better quality of life. With a background in debt recovery and conflict resolution, he ensures seamless support.
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Health Chat.
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As you know, we love to hear from our Members. For any enquiries, please email members@unimed.co.nz.
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Alternatively contact us Monday – Friday, 8am – 5pm on 0800 600 666, our friendly team are here to help.
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