Medical Aid

[igg]

what procedure was it, if I may ask? That may go a long way to explaining why...

Minor motorcycle accident. Pile of xrays, stitches, drugs, bandages, etc.. It wasn't a whole lot of money.

 

I'm just concerned that I'm gonna bail hard off my MTB one of these days and do some serious damage and get treated as an out-patient and be liable for 100% of the bill.

[AlanD]

Not mtb related but Medical aid saved my wife and child. She was pregnant with our first child and had severe complications and Erin came a month early, spent 4 weeks in icu and my wife spent 2 weeks in icu with collapsed lung twice, 4 blood transfusions, surgery and the list goes on.

 

This cost over half a million randellas and if it was not for medical aid I fear the worst could have happened.

 

Medical aid is crucial when you need it, especially hospital plan.

 

Its like the old saying: rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

Research all the options and chiose the best for you budget taking into account all the valuable advice the these hubbers bestow upon thee.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Minor motorcycle accident. Pile of xrays, stitches, drugs, bandages, etc.. It wasn't a whole lot of money.

 

I'm just concerned that I'm gonna bail hard off my MTB one of these days and do some serious damage and get treated as an out-patient and be liable for 100% of the bill.

Ah. Yes. 

 

Same happened to my wife in her hijacking 3 weeks ago. Cut to the neck, not major enough to warrant admission... Triage determined she was an urgent case, but only outpatient... Couple of stitches and painkillers and she was out.

 

Put it this way - If it's a simple break requiring a cast alone, you'll be treated as an outpatient and pay it yourself.

 

If it's a compound break without deformation, you'll be admitted as it'll most probably need theatre time to sort out the break and get it set with pins etc. The initial x-ray won't be covered as that's an "ïnvestigative" procedure (ïe they need to determine what's wrong before admission) 

 

If it's a compound break and your arm is bending in all sorts of unhealthy ways or bones are visible, you SHOULD be admitted straight away if your medical aid details have been confirmed. If you have no med aid, this is the point that you're referred to a gov't hospital as your injury isn't life threatening... Life threatening instances AFAIK they treat you instantly and transferred when stable - you're left with the pieces up until that point.

 

Neck & back treatment - admitted. Pretty much all the time. Here it gets tricky though - if it's you walk in with a complaint of back pain after falling off a ladder, and they give you an MRI - investigative and you pay it yourself. If it's as part of an accident, you can't respond and you're lifted out of there and are admitted, then have an MRI - PMB. You have full coverage. 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Not mtb related but Medical aid saved my wife and child. She was pregnant with our first child and had severe complications and Erin came a month early, spent 4 weeks in icu and my wife spent 2 weeks in icu with collapsed lung twice, 4 blood transfusions, surgery and the list goes on.

 

This cost over half a million randellas and if it was not for medical aid I fear the worst could have happened.

 

Medical aid is crucial when you need it, especially hospital plan.

 

Its like the old saying: rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

Research all the options and chiose the best for you budget taking into account all the valuable advice the these hubbers bestow upon thee.

Eish, Alan... That's not cool. I know what the inside of the NICU looks like and it's not cool to have someone so new, and so small and vulnerable inside there.

 

Having said that - the nurses inside the NICU are some of the best, by necessity

[Boerklong]

I for want cant imagine going without medical aid. Have had it all my life and will keep it for the rest of my life. Im lucky that my employer pays 60% of my medical aid.

[Eugene]

My father did not have medical aid. He picked up pneumonia and spent some time in intensive care. My bill for his illness was R43 000. Such an illness can happen to anyone.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

My father did not have medical aid. He picked up pneumonia and spent some time in intensive care. My bill for his illness was R43 000. Such an illness can happen to anyone.

You're lucky... For pneumonia in an elderly person, that's a small amount

[LazyTrailRider]

Im lucky that my employer pays 60% of my medical aid.

Trust me, there is no luck involved. If they weren't paying it, you'd be able to convince them to raise the "conventional" portion of what you earn to compensate. From an employer's perspective, total cost of an employee is in the end the only figure which really matters. That calculation is more complex than most people realise, but the principle stands.

 

We don't offer medical aid or retirement benefits to our employees, because we believe that each person should have the freedom of choice to decide what and how much they want to invest in themselves. Of course, they're all highly skilled (software developers, analysts, consultants etc) so the assumption is made that they choose sensibly. One can't do this in all industries, granted, but it works for us.

 

The above having been said, I think it's extremely irresponsible as an individual to not have some sort of medical cover in place. When you get into a sticky situation, in most cases no one is going to let you die/suffer. Guess what? Someone's going to pay, and that person(s) will most likely end up being your close family. Do you really want to load that kind of responsibility and potentially catastrophic cost onto their shoulders?

[igg]

I've found it far preferable that my employer doesn't offer me medical aid. At the end of the day I still get paid the same, but I have the freedom of choice. Same for pension/RA. Though it looks like I really need to get myself some gap cover.

 

That being said, I didn't mind being part of the group schemes when I was working at Std Bank. R8pm for disability/dread cover is really hard to beat.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I've found it far preferable that my employer doesn't offer me medical aid. At the end of the day I still get paid the same, but I have the freedom of choice. Same for pension/RA. Though it looks like I really need to get myself some gap cover.

 

That being said, I didn't mind being part of the group schemes when I was working at Std Bank. R8pm for disability/dread cover is really hard to beat.

Gap cover shouldn't even be a consideration, imo. Should be mandatory.

[igg]

Gap cover shouldn't even be a consideration, imo. Should be mandatory.

It's actually a product I wasn't even aware existed until I switched to managing all my own medical stuff. The group schemes I've been part of previously all had some kind of extensions over and above the standard offerings. I just completely forgot about it until this thread popped up.

 

I'll be doing some research on Ambledown tomorrow, and see what my broker usually prefers.

Edited July 14, 2015 by cairbre

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

It's actually a product I wasn't even aware existed until I switched to managing all my own medical stuff. The group schemes I've been part of previously all had some kind of extensions over and above the standard offerings. I just completely forgot about it until this thread popped up.

 

I'll be doing some research on Ambledown tomorrow, and see what my broker usually prefers.

Yeah, you do that. Just be sure to check PMB coverage. It gets murky there, but make sure that your broker's chosen one covers it. Even though the Med Aid should

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Oh... they (ambledown) don't really give that much info out to pvt clients as they place a lot of importance on their broker relationships. Underwritten by Hollard. Combined Complimed and Medilink in a buyout.

[Pure Savage]

It really depends on your circumstance and if you like risk.

 

I found that on Camaf, we dont get much day to day benefits, but having just had our first child at a private hospital and a hernia Op for him within 6 weeks, I paid the grand total of R0. Niks.

 

The total bill they covered was close to R105K, I do pay a little "more" for the check ups and doctor visits post op, but I dont need to think about selling my bike.

 

Same goes for my friend that had a major accident and was in a private ICU for close to 2 months, she paid R0. Her bill was closer to R600k after all her surgeries.

 

I think for the amount I pay, to avoid having to worry if I have a major accident that I can get treated, it is worth it.

 

Roll the dice

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

It really depends on your circumstance and if you like risk.

 

I found that on Camaf, we dont get much day to day benefits, but having just had our first child at a private hospital and a hernia Op for him within 6 weeks, I paid the grand total of R0. Niks.

 

The total bill they covered was close to R105K, I do pay a little "more" for the check ups and doctor visits post op, but I dont need to think about selling my bike.

 

Same goes for my friend that had a major accident and was in a private ICU for close to 2 months, she paid R0. Her bill was closer to R600k after all her surgeries.

 

I think for the amount I pay, to avoid having to worry if I have a major accident that I can get treated, it is worth it.

 

Roll the dice

Hadn't heard of them, but a quick Google puts an end to that. Chartered Accountants Medical Aid Fund.

 

 

Should be cheap and comprehensive due to the controlled client base (actuarially lower risk individuals inclined to claim less and be healthier than the general population) so is probably a good option

[Pure Savage]

Hadn't heard of them, but a quick Google puts an end to that. Chartered Accountants Medical Aid Fund.

 

 

Should be cheap and comprehensive due to the controlled client base (actuarially lower risk individuals inclined to claim less and be healthier than the general population) so is probably a good option

 

And the audit firms tend towards forcing the entire firm to use them so that they can tender for the audit of the big insurance companies without a threat to their independence.