Your Chronic Medicine Delivered to your Doorstep

Your chronic medicine delivered to your doorstep

Every day thousands of South Africans on chronic medication do not take their medicine. Some - many of them elderly, sick individuals who cannot travel or afford transportation - have to travel long distances to collect their medicine from a pharmacy.
Our solution to the problem has been innovative. GEMS members don't need to get to a pharmacy, instead it travels to them.

The courier pharmacy service, Medipost, offers a number of benefits such as:

• Delivering chronic medicine directly to our members throughout South Africa, even in fairly remote areas and abroad.
• They deliver on time and in the correct dosages so members never have to do without their medicine. This also helps members to take their chronic medicine according to their doctor's instructions.
• Members also save money when using this service by avoiding out-of-pocket expenses for levies and other surcharges as the designated service provider (DSP) fee is fixed and agreed to.

How you can save on your chronic medicine by making use of the GEMS Chronic Medicine DSP:

Most chronic medicine would be more than R75, meaning they would fall into tiers 2-4. Members would therefore typically pay less than the regulated fee per medicine. The Scheme has been able to save a substantial R21 million per month as a result of the DSP arrangement. This saving is passed on to the members of the Scheme through added benefits and reduced contribution rates.

Members have the right to use any pharmacy of their choice for their chronic medicine but will have to make a co-payment if they do not use the Chronic Medicine DSP. This is because GEMS does not have special arrangements in place with such providers and therefore cannot ensure their cost-effectiveness and accessibility to GEMS members.

GEMS' Chronic Medicine DSP is an arrangement that saves both the Scheme and its members' money, and offers convenience. It ensures that GEMS members take their medicine as they should, ensure better healthcare outcomes, which is good news for patients and for the Scheme.