ASK Now provides assistance to patients and caregivers that have been denied or given limited access to treatment, benefits, medicine, healthcare – and wish to know what to do. The process differs for those patients on medical aid, compared to those using public facilities, but in any situation, either private or public, options for complaints will have a phased approach with certain steps for each phase. We will guide you through each of these phases and the actual steps you or your doctor need to take in each phase.

There is currently limited access to concise, easy to understand information on the escalation process, which medical scheme members need to embark on when denied access to treatment. This creates frustration, by lack of information available for patients to approach for help to navigate this process step by step.

Many patients have experienced the frustration of having a Medical Scheme deny a submitted treatment plan. This leads patients to spend hours communicating and arguing with the Medical Scheme to try and get their treating doctors recommended treatment plan accepted.

When denied treatment, patients’, with the help of their doctors and ask to speak up for themselves and receive the treatment they so urgently need.

We guide the patient through a step-by-step process that will enable the patients to take the necessary action and challenge the scheme’s decision through the Patient Access Support Project called Project ASK Now to allow patients to access and understand medical scheme and public institutions rules and navigate the escalation process through our website. The project provided these patients with the tools to navigate their escalation process.

We do this on an individual patient level – changing one life at a time.

 What types of problems can we assist with?

Navigating your way through the steps of excising your rights and the process of appeal with regards to –

• a medical scheme declining your treatment plan or not correctly assessing your treatment in relation to your benefits:
• helping you and your health care team in developing motivations for submission to your medical scheme;
• helping you apply for ex gratia (voluntary) funding from your medical scheme;
• helping you to navigate and understand the labour laws and social aspects of dealing with cancer in your workplace.

What ASK NOW cannot do?

• give legal advice or assistance if you wish to institute legal action;
• give medical or clinical advice or try to diagnose a medical problem;
• give financial assistance;
• criticize, without justified evidence, any health care professional;
• refer patients to specific healthcare providers;
• pass your personal information on to a third party without your permission.

For medical scheme, complaints your complaint must be submitted to the Principal Officer of your specific scheme. If you wish to challenge the response from your scheme, you can lodge a complaint with the Council for Medical Schemes.

ASK Now Call Centre can aid you in navigating either of these processes. A Case Manager can be contacted at ASK NOW CENTRE NR: 0726 ASK NOW (072 6550 118).