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Liberty Medical Scheme website

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Liberty Baby

Queries

Should you wish to query your medical aid benefits or update your details, please click here.

Contact Details

Customer Call Centre:
0860 002 163

Private Bag X35
Claremont
7735

Changes to the Liberty Medical Scheme Corporate Network Option for 2010 At the end of every year Liberty Medical Scheme reviews its benefit options and makes certain changes and improvements. As per the communication sent out to our members in the December issue of Alive and contained in your 2010 Member Guide, some of these changes affect the Corporate Network option and we'd like to take the opportunity to summarise them here for those members.

• Prime Cure will continue to provide primary care services, including GP consultations and procedures performed in the doctors' rooms; basic pathology, radiology, optometry and dentistry; chronic and acute medicines as prescribed and/or dispensed by a GP; and all HIV services.
• As the administrator, Liberty Health will facilitate access to further treatments and manage secondary services. These include referral to specialist consultations and procedures performed in the specialist's rooms; pathology, radiology, acute and chronic medication prescribed by a specialist; oncology; dialysis; hospital admissions; and emergency treatment.
• Prime Cure is your first point of contact on 0861 665 665, unless you need to consult a specialist or be admitted to hospital. In this event, you should always contact the Liberty Medical Scheme Contact Centre on 0860 002 163 for authorisation first.
• Our Designated Service Provider (DSP) Hospital Network consists of all private hospitals within the Life Healthcare, NHN and Clinix Groups, all of which offer our members special discounted rates. Member admissions to State hospitals will also be funded by the Scheme. Netcare and Medi-Clinic hospitals are not included in the LMS DSP Hospital Network.
• In the case of medical emergencies, members may be admitted to the closest appropriate facility even if this is not a hospital linked to one of these groups. In order for these fees to be covered you need to contact the Scheme as soon as possible and inform them of your situation.
• In all other events, should you choose to make use of medical services provided by hospitals other than those mentioned above, such fees will be for the member's account.

Cut-off date for proof of child dependants who are studying is 28 February 2010!

If you are a member on the Platinum Complete, Titan or Bona Plus options and you have children who are older than 21 (and younger than 26) but still studying, you will only be charged child-dependent rates for them. However you need to provide proof of their studies each year.

This year, members on these options have been given a concession until 28 February 2010 to provide proof of studies for such children. Please submit proof of registration for 2010 from a recognised educational institution for fulltime studies by emailing updates@libertyhealth.co.za or faxing +27 21 673 9587.

You will have been charged child-dependent rates for January and February 2010 but if you fail to provide the necessary proof of studies by 28 February 2010, adult-dependent rates will be charged from 1 March 2010.

What happens to the savings Medicover Medical Scheme members accumulated during 2009?

With the merger of Medicover Medical Scheme and Liberty Health Medical Scheme in January 2010 we have put in place various processes to manage the savings that former Medicover Medical Scheme members accumulated up to the end of 2009.

Here's what you need to know:

• If you have any remaining accumulated 2009 savings, these will be used to settle any outstanding claims for treatment during 2009. You can submit any such claims and they will be processed up until the end of April 2010. For these claims, you will still receive a Medicover claims statement which will confirm the claims that have been processed and your remaining savings from 2009. Details of your 2009 claims will also still be accessible on the Medicover website at www.medicover.co.za.
• Any claims that you submit for treatment that took place during 2010 will be processed against your 2010 available savings. For these, you will receive a Liberty Medical Scheme claims statement confirming your processed claims and your remaining available 2010 savings – this figure excludes your 2009 Medicover savings.
• From the beginning of May 2010, any remaining 2009 Medicover savings will be added to your 2010 LMS savings and will be used to fund all future claims. This combined savings balance will be shown on the first claims statement after 1 May 2010.
• From the beginning of May 2010, we will transfer all information about your historical Medicover claims and remaining 2009 savings balances to Liberty Medical Scheme. You will be able to access this historical information on the Liberty Medical Scheme website www.libmed.co.za, but it will cease to be available on the Medicover website.

If you have any queries about your accumulated Medicover 2009 or 2010 savings, claims or information, please feel to call us at the LMS Contact Centre on 0860 002 163.

Having a baby is one of the most exciting moments of a couple's life and we'd like to share in your experience.

Members on the Gold Plus, Titan, Platinum Plus and Platinum Complete options have access to Liberty Baby, which is designed to help educate moms and dads-to-be, offer support and give sound advice. Trained professionals are on hand via a 24-hour medical advice line to answer any questions you might have and the Liberty Baby website is full of helpful information and useful tips. You'll get emails about each stage of the pregnancy and we'll call you every trimester to make sure mom and baby are making healthy progress.

And to sweeten your baby's homecoming, we'll give you a Liberty Baby gift bag filled with goodies for mom and baby. It includes a full packet of nappies, a book covering the health of mother and baby and a growth and immunisation chart. Members also get fantastic discounts at designated retail outlets.

To get all these great benefits, call us on 0861 116 019 and we will register you on Liberty Baby.

Tips for a healthy pregnancy

• Do regular, gentle exercise such as walking or swimming. This is good for baby, prepares the body for birth and helps you get back into shape after the baby is born.
• Get plenty of rest and de-stress whenever possible. Hormones released when you're stressed or anxious are felt by the baby too.
• Eat fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean protein. Speak to your doctor about your dietary needs and ideal weight gain.
• Take a folic acid supplement and multivitamin.
• Avoid alcohol and cigarettes and don't take any medication, homeopathic or otherwise, unless you have cleared it with your doctor first.

If you're travelling overseas, it's a good idea to purchase travel insurance so that you are covered if you need medical treatment. When you're paying in foreign currency, medical bills can quickly amount to huge sums, and travel insurance protects you against this risk, while also providing you with cover for other eventualities such as losing your luggage or missing a connecting flight.

To ensure that our members get the best cover at the best rates, we've negotiated substantial discounts for you with Travel Insurance Consultants (TIC), one of the biggest travel insurance companies. The discounted rates are for overseas travel only, and will be for your own account. When you purchase your travel tickets by credit card, most banks automatically provide standard cover, but if you don't have a credit card or if you would like to purchase additional top-up cover, you should contact TIC directly.

Call +27 11 521 4000 or visit www.tic.co.za. If you speak to a TIC consultant, make sure you tell them you are a Liberty Medical Scheme member and ask about the discounted rate available to you.

Happy travelling!

As a Liberty Medical Scheme member you get great discounts with Pharmacy Direct, a courier service pharmacy and one of the largest providers of chronic medication in the market.

This means you get your chronic medication at a discounted rate, delivered directly to your door at no extra cost. There are NO administration or delivery fees and you'll be notified via SMS of your delivery.

All you have to do is register with Pharmacy Direct, the Designated Service Provider for LMS members on the Silver Focus option, as well as the Preferred Supplier for all other options, except the Network options. You can register by:

• completing the application form (click here) and sending it to 086 6114 000/1/2/3 (fax) or liberty@pharmacydirect.co.za (email).
• calling our contact centre on 086 0027 800 where a consultant will sign you up over the phone.

Submit a valid prescription from your doctor by e-mail or fax and ensure that LMS has authorised your chronic medication.

Remember that your prescription must be renewed every six months. Pharmacy Direct is open Monday to Friday from 07H30 to 17H00 and your first-time delivery of chronic medication will take between five and seven working days, depending on the authorisation of your medication.

For more information call the Pharmacy Direct customer care line on 0860 027 800.