Edition 65
December 2009
Message from the Manager
Office Hours: Christmas 2009 & New Year
The office of the Fund will be open on Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December and then closed over the Christmas/New Year period, reopening on Monday 4th January 2010.
While the office will be unattended, Ancillary claims via HICAPS will be available, and arrangements have been made for electronic payments of contributions to be processed. Members who have registered for Web Services will be able to enquire as normal. Travel Insurance will still be available via the Website.
Benefit review & contribution rate increase — 1st April 2010
Contribution Rates will be increasing as of 1st April 2010. At this stage by how much is to be determined.
These increases are approved by the Minister for Health in the new year. You will be advised of the new benefits and contribution rates as soon as practicable.
Hospital contracts rate increases are ongoing, with our Strategic Partner the Australian Health Service Alliance serving us well in limiting these increases, as well as the Access Gap Cover scheme retaining Doctor Agreement increases, at a rate much greater than domestic CPI.
Revisions to the benefit levels in the Ancillary Table are being re-evaluated, and will result in higher Item Benefits next year.
AGM 22nd october 2009
The meeting for 2009 was brief and straightforward, with the directors retiring by rotation re-elected, as no additional nominations had been received.
At the subsequent meeting of the board, positions of Chairman and Deputy Chairman were continued, with minor changes to committee makeup.
YoungSavers and Ex-Dependants
If you have children aged between 21 and 25 who are studying full-time they can stay on your membership at no extra cost. But if they are now not studying, have just completed their studies, or have become married, now is the time to consider continued cover with our YoungSavers Cover, especially developed for Young Singles.
This has proven popular over the last few years, providing excellent value for money at a competitive price.
Phoenix YoungSavers provides a combination of Private Hospital and Medical cover, as well as Ancillary cover, for the majority of services required by young, single people, with minimum benefits for services that aren’t really needed. It is a smart choice for those who are young and fit and not needing procedures that typically older people will claim for, like cataract surgery or a hip replacement.
If this sounds like the situation you are soon to be in, don’t hesitate to call our friendly staff or visit our Website for more info.
William Beaton
Chief Executive Officer
The Back Page
E-newsletter — a change for the better
In a new initiative to tackle the environmental impacts of operations, the Phoenix Health Fund team are encouraging members to use their emails to receive advice of newsletters so to help the environment.
Phoenix Health Fund understands the importance of the natural environment and the implications that business operations can have on the world. Management recognises that the organisation has both a direct and indirect impact on the environment and believes that managing, counteracting and improving these impacts is an important aspect of sound business management.
From September 2009, the HealthLinks newsletter (and previous editions) can now be viewed online, with the member advised by email, quarterly, of the new edition. The Fund hopes that this not only increases readership of the newsletter,but also saves on paper.
The change is quite significant as previously, the newsletter had been posted to thousands of its members nationwide. The change will see the fund reduce their paper usage and become more economically responsible as a result.
If you are a Phoenix Health Fund member and would like to do your part for the environment, join our newsletter email list today. You can do this by performing one of these options:
- Email us with your email address to enquiries@phoenixhealthfund.com.au, or
- Log onto the Phoenix Health Fund website — www.phoenixhealthfund.com.au, or
- Call our Freecall number — 1800 028 817.
Phoenix Health Fund Website
- Member Registration
A wide range of services for Members; - Online Private Hospital Search,
as well as the Latest Listing of Contracted Private Hospitals; - Travel Insurance,
Online, with payment by Credit Card (some restrictions); - Access Gap Cover Doctors,
who wish to be listed - via interactive lookup; - Payment Options,
including BPay and Credit Card; - Latest Listing of Alternative Therapy
Provider Associations.
HICAPS HICCUPS
- Problems with payments
Please note that your HICAPS card will not work if you are not financial.
To avoid this problem (and any embarrassing situations), make sure your contribution payments are paid before your final day of cover so that your account will remain financial.
- HICAPS Claim rejections
Claims for initial consultations are limited to one per person per calendar year and per type of treatment. Please be aware of this when making a HICAPS claim as it will be rejected if you have made a claim for an initial consultation in the same calendar year even if it is a different Provider.
If you are in a situation where your HICAPS claim has been rejected just ask the provider if they have used a initial consultation item number, and if so, ask them to use a subsequent consultation item number and this will enable your claim to be processed.
