At its annual virtual product launch, Ambledown Financial Services has revealed a comprehensive range of extensions to its gap cover for the coming year.

“Ambledown’s gap cover is designed to help South Africans continue accessing the best medical care without compromising their financial security by covering the difference between what medical schemes pay and what consultants and hospitals actually charge,” says Michael Emery, Marketing Executive at Ambledown. “Every year we try to push the limits of what we cover a little further in order to serve our members better. This year is no exception.”

A major theme of the launch was an extension of the range of cancer treatments covered. African cancer mortality rates are set to double by 2030, with more than a million lives likely to be lost per year. ^[i]

“Ambledown has extended its oncology benefits fairly aggressively this year in response to this looming crisis – we want our members and their families to have the best chance of recovery. Our cover now includes nuclear scans limited to the mapping for cancer and numerous ground-breaking immunotherapies, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, photodynamic therapy and stem cell transplants,” Emery says. “We are very conscious of the need for our cover to keep up with new treatments as their efficacy is confirmed.”

At the launch, Ambledown also announced that the range of procedures covered on an outpatient basis will be increased. Additional haemorrhoidectomy treatments, excision of particular skin lesions, vacuum biopsy of the breast and circumcisions have all been added to its list of outpatient procedures.

Medical inflation is a key challenge, and a survey commissioned by Ambledown shows that the increases planned by medical schemes are significantly below the increases contemplated by medical specialists, something that will have a major impact on gap cover claims.

In line with this massive increase in specialists’ fees, Ambledown will also increase its current annual overall limit of R185 837 in April 2023 in line with the regulator’s directive.

“Ambledown prides itself on keeping up with this runaway medical inflation while still expanding its cover and continuing to offer its members stable premiums,” Emery concludes. “We will maintain our focus on innovation aimed at providing our members with gap cover that truly makes a difference.”

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