How four simple lifestyle changes can have a direct impact on 65% of your healthcare cost.
Predominant causes of wellness challenges can be avoided through lifestyle behaviour changes and by participating in medical schemes and primary care:
- Physical activity, nutrition, alcohol abuse and smoking (“the big four”) account for 65% of healthcare costs. Awareness of these risks are increased through wellness education and preventive care.
- Earlier participation in medical schemes reduces or prevents late-joiner penalties.
- Earlier participation in medical schemes or primary care reduces risk of hospitalisation (35% of expenditure according to CMS industry report).
- Over a third of current expenditure can thus be avoided, resulting in lower cost of care, to enable affordability and improved access.
- Improve risk performance and scheme sustainability.
Citizens delay access to a medical scheme or any healthcare-related solution made available. In this way, they also ignore preventative measures made available, like disease and nutrition management programmes, covered by the medical schemes. When they are older, and the disease has progressed and it is more expensive, they also do not have access to any “reserve funds” in their retirement capital because they have also prematurely accessed retirement savings to fund lifestyle choices. Our consumer study shows that 38% of South Africans who previously cashed in their retirement benefits have used the money to fund living expenses.
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