News Flash – JULY 2010

MEMBER SATISFACTION SURVEY 2010

The Peoplecare annual Member Satisfaction Survey for 2010 took place earlier this year and we received a huge response from members with 1,350 members participating.  Overall, the results are fantastic, which is a testament to the hard work of Peoplecare staff in addressing the issues from the annual surveys.  The survey measures satisfaction with levels of communication, telephone service, written service, website services, claims turnaround, benefits, electronic claiming and other services.

In general, an overwhelming 97.3% of respondents said they were satisfied with the fund, which is a fantastic result!

We have conducted our initial review of the full analysis report and as usual, we will coordinate a project team to identify any areas of improvement in line with our commitment to reviewing and further improving our benefits, member service and the total package we offer members.

We are currently focussing on:

* Improving members understanding of our health covers

* Giving members more information about our great value for money

* Making the website easier to use

* Ensuring that all of our materials are written in plain english

Thank you to all of our members who participated in the online survey, and congratulations to the 10 lucky winners of the Creative Zen MP3 Player.

NEW MILESTONE FOR PEOPLECARE

Peoplecare Health Insurance has achieved another milestone this year with member numbers reaching a total of 20,000 memberships, providing health cover to more than 46,000 people.

Peoplecare was originally classified as a restricted health fund for employees within the steel industry from 1953 until late 2006. Since the health fund opened its doors to the general public 3 years ago, Peoplecare’s membership has increased by around 25%. This is remarkable growth in an industry that typically grows by approximately 3% per year.

In addition, one of the world's leading survey-based marketing research firms, IPSOS recently surveyed 5,555 members of different heath funds across the country  and highlighted Peoplecare as achieving the highest customer service rating ever recorded in the survey’s history. The report states ‘Peoplecare’s performance is truly exceptional… Peoplecare has set a record that will be hard to match, but shows what can be achieved’.  

PEOPLECARE RANKED IN NATIONS TOP HEALTH FUNDS...  AGAIN!

While it will be no surprise to our members, Peoplecare has again been rated as one of the best value health funds in Australia. In their annual health fund evaluation for New South Wales and Victoria, Canstar Cannex have listed Peoplecare products amongst the best value in both states and awarded Peoplecare the 2009 State Award for Outstanding Value Hospital Cover in Victoria, again proving a smaller player can compete successfully with the largest health funds in Australia.

This is the third bouquet in as many months for Peoplecare, who have been independently evaluated and ranked amongst the best value for 2009 by Australian Financial Review’s Smart Investor magazine, Choice magazine and now Canstar Cannex.

This most recent recognition once again positions Peoplecare as a health fund that provides high value health cover to its members. Peoplecare’s CEO Michael Bassingthwaighte is extremely happy with this acknowledgement from Canstar Cannex.

“At Peoplecare, we make sure we look after our members with competitive products that give them exceptional service and value. It’s fantastic that there are independent avenues such as this that help consumers find the best value options. I’m pleased to have this independent recognition of the value of our health covers”, said Michael.

“This is more proof that as a smaller, not-for profit company we can be competitive at the national level, while remaining focused on our local communities”.

Peoplecare were also featured on the Today Tonight show in October as a health fund providing competitive health cover options.

ONLINE CLAIMING IS HERE!...

Peoplecare announced the launch of Online Claiming in August 2008, allowing members to claim online for their dental and physiotherapy claims. You can logon to Online Member Services here.

Our Online Claiming is still in development, so stay tuned for further expansion and improvements. We'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions about Online Claiming, so please email info@peoplecare.com.au

Of course, the most convenient method of claiming is still by swiping your membership HICAPS card at participating providers, but it's good to know that Online Claiming is another option for claims for providers who don't participate in HICAPS claiming.

CHOICE HEALTH INSURANCE SURVEY

The Australian Consumers Association do an annual evaluation of private hospital covers for their Choice magazine and website and Peoplecare has participated in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

For more information about how we performed in the CHOICE 2009 Health Insurance survey, please visit www.choice.com.au Full results of the 2008 survey are available on the Choice website at www.choice.com.au.

FAMILY & FRIENDS COMPETITION...

The Family & Friends Campaign is in its final month.  Now is your time to refer your family and friends to Peoplecare.  Get your referrals in before the 30th June 2010 and if the person joins, you go in the draw to win a prize valued at $500 or more!  if you're the lucky winner, you will get your choice of a $500 Coles Group & Myer Gift Card, an Apple iPhone 3G (RRP $719) or TomTom GO 930 GPS Navigator (RRP $749).

Everyone who refers a friend or family member receives a free $50 Coles Group & Myer Gift Card! And your friend gets one too!

If you would like to enter in our Family & Friends competition you can do so here

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Peoplecare offers our members discounted travel insurance through QBE Travel Insurance.

Competitive policies are available for both international and domestic travel, and we also offer an Annual Multi Trip policy for those members and their family who travel frequently during a 12 month period.

For details of the policies available and a product disclosure statement you can visit the Travel Insurance pages on this website, or call us on 1800 808 690 to discuss your requirements and arrange a policy.