No priority is being given to my case regardless of the content of it and the time that it was sent.

I have been going back and forth in contacting the Bonitas medical aid, i sent the below email on the 19 May and till date no feedback given, i have been told that BRANDON a team leader will call me back to assist and never has he called me back ... Then i was Told Fiona the high level person has been handed my query but since then there has not been any feedback received , and again today im told Stephany is prioritising other important queries and she will not be able to attend to my case ...so really i keep hitting a brick wall .

My issue here is that i am 7 months pregnant and i cannot get a new gynecologist at this point... my current gynae is not authorised to work at the hospitals that are now on my plan.. hence i am pleading that the 30% co payment be waved so that i can continue to see my gynae and deliver at the hospital .. otherwise i dont know what im supposed to do if i was going to go to labour ryt now ... if i go to park land then i need to pay co payment whichh i cannot afford ... if i go to the other hospitals where will i get the gynae to deliver my baby and i deliver by csection . i understand that my edd is for August but i need to know now so that i can continue to see my gynae . this is frustrating and really un necessary for you to delay for so many days to give me an answer. *** From: Nosipho Msibi Sent: 26 May 2021 04:18 PM To: '***' Cc: '***' Subject: FW: Request for Waiver of 30% Co-payment - Id Number *** - membership ***

Hi Fiona

I’m really sending this email out of frustration and panic

I have been calling the contacts centre and waiting for feedback till date I’m being told you will get back to me and really I cannot wait any longer.

I’m so frustrated by not getting any feedback and no help this is really stressing me out because if I was to give birth right now where am I supposed to go and where do I get a gynae to help me at 28 weeks Pregnant .

Please see my email below an d kindly respond to me I’m sure after reading this email you might understand my frustration. I being told to wait I have been waiting since 19th May and I’m heavily pregnant and my query is about the hospital and also concerning my gynae.

I cannot believe that this is the kind of service that you are giving to me when I have always accommodated anything that you guys have said to me.

I hope that I will finally get a response from you. Thank you

From: Nosipho Msibi Sent: 19 May 2021 12:44 PM To: '***' Subject: Request for Waiver of 30% Co-payment - Id Number *** - ***

Good day

Hope you are well.

I would like to request that the 30% Co payment to be waived for Parklands Hospital ,this is for the delivery that is scheduled for 23/08/2021.

I request the above because Last year April 2020 I used this hospital when I gave birth to my son and I was covered 100% In the month of April 2021 I contacted the scheme to request an authorization for extra digits that had to be removed from my sons hands I do not recall that I was informed that this hospital is no longer part of the Network hospitals on my Primary select Plan.

As far as I am aware the Authorization was processed successfully regarding the Hospital that this was going to be done at. Only when I gave the Doctors Practice number it was then brought to my attention that this Doctor is not registered on my Primary select Plan. Which I then had to call you guys numerous times to get assistance I also used the app to communicate with you on which was not so easy as your apps kept on giving me issues it kept timing out and my sessions were cancelled numerous times.

Eventually I was sent a list of pediatricians and Surgeons that I needed to use when I had needed a Pediatric Surgeon… it was later given to me which I found that on the Primary select Plan It only has one Pediatric Surgeon which is in Pietermaritzburg that is a completely different Town from where I stay … I had to travel from Durban Inanda to Pietermaritzburg which required that I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and prepare for a 2 hours drive with my 1 years old, when we arrived there my family had to wait for us in the car.

My 1 year old son had to go under Anesthetics for the surgery to be done on him, not to forget that I was around 6 months Pregnant at the time and having to travel to a different Town because my medical aid plan Does not have a Pediatric Surgeon in Durban and travel for a total of 5 hours because coming back from Pietermaritzburg there is truck traffic and toll gates … what an inconvenience that I had to go through. This was very frustrating for me and my son was not taking all of this well he had just been under Anesthetics, surgery done on his little fingers and now had to be trapped in a car for so many hours.

The point I am trying to get across here is that I was not aware that Parklands Hospital is no longer Under my Network hospitals and that I have already been inconvenienced by this 30% Co payment I ad to go to a different Town to get Assistance which is something that we never anticipate when we take out a medical aid that it would cause so much inconvenience, Frustration, Pain and Stress at the time that I needed it the most .

And now I am 28 week Pregnant I’m finding my self in an even harder situation, I am now being told that I cannot use this Hospital that convenient for me.. my Gynecologist has an office next to this hospital Which is beneficial to me if there are any additional things that he might need for me that he can quickly access his practice.

Upon learning about this co payment I contacted my Doctor to inform him about the hospitals that I am now being subjected to use .. I then learned that he is not contracted to use any of these hospital He can only go to Parklands Hospital, Umhlanga Hospital & Mountedgecomb life Hospital. So what does this means then form me ? Do I now need to get a Gynecologist who is contacted to the hospital on my list. That Gynecologist will request that I bring forth a Co payment of +- R 150 000 which I cannot afford , also which Gynecologist will take a patient at 28 weeks? We are still in a pandemic I cant be going up and down looking for a New Gynecologist to help me I’m heavily pregnant and this is starting to stress me out. Should I go into labor right now I actually don’t know what to do.

I cannot use my Gynecologist at the Hospitals on my list … I cannot get a new gynecologist so late …. I cannot afford the co payments that are requested from me … we are in a pandemic and I am at an even higher risk Since there are now talks of 3rd wave.

I am pleading with you as my scheme that you please look into waiving this co payment , I have been loyal to the scheme and I have been a long standing client of yours, I moved from Bon cap to Primary select Plan for better benefits. I have accommodated this situation in past when my son had to do the operation … I travelled to a different town Can you please sympathize with me on this matter and put your self in my shoes … I’m really stressed out about this matter and that can also lead to going into early labor. I had taken the decision to tie my tubes after this birth , I think that will mean we will not find ourselves in the same situation in the future

I trust that the above is enough for you to consider my request .

Regards Nosipho