Beware of the red tape when choosing Bonitas as a medical aid.

I changed from ******* medical aid as a financial option, to a Bonitas Plan that was sold as a viable option. This has been nothing short of a nightmare. It has taken 3 months for my chronic medication to be approved, and not all approved, a concerning one being medication to control my cholesterol after a quadruple bypass. The amount of emails back and forth has been totally unnecessary, and to add insult to injury, the interaction with their dispensing pharmacy has been a nightmare in terms of delivering the complete script. I think the final straw is that as a member you HAVE to use their dispensing pharmacy for the first 3 months and after that you can choose a pharmacy of your own choice and pay a co-payment. If this is not done you are responsible for the entire payment of your script. As a result of this I now have to foot the bill for my medication I got in January. Did not see that one coming. The standard responses to queries do not assist in relieving the frustration, and they do not provide alternative - covered - medication. They just refuse to supply despite interactions with my doctor who is doing everything he can to stabilise my condition. I did receive good service with my initial dealings with the call centre, but now I feel I am just cash in their bank. What a bad decision on my part.