Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Ok haven't read all of this thread, but I have been working in the medical aid industry for 11 years now. Heard some hectic stories of Govt hospitals. So long as I can afford it, I will def belong to a med aid. Oh and I saw a post somewhere above asking about discovery plan changes. Word of advice, shop around at other schemes, discovery prices vs benefits are not that great at all. Fedhealth and Bonitas have just launched similar wellness programs to discoverys vitality so they are 2 good ones to look at. Bonitas is second largest to med aid in SA .. And no I don't work for Bonitas and not pushing their product LOL.Absolute rubbish. Fedhealth are very expensive for what they are. Momentum are the closest to Discovery ito benefits, and beat them in certain places. Bonitas ARE good, and they have great benefits. However, Disco is by far the easiest to deal with on a day to day basis...
Lurch the stalker Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Absolute rubbish. Fedhealth are very expensive for what they are. Momentum are the closest to Discovery ito benefits, and beat them in certain places. Bonitas ARE good, and they have great benefits. However, Disco is by far the easiest to deal with on a day to day basis... Fedhealth sucks - our company forces us to use them, I am not impressed with what we get for what we pay at all, and they're increasing the price as of the end of November too.
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Fedhealth sucks - our company forces us to use them, I am not impressed with what we get for what we pay at all, and they're increasing the price as of the end of November too.There's a reason we no longer deal with them and advise people against joining them. Them, and Medihelp. Goodness, no...
Lurch the stalker Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 There's a reason we no longer deal with them and advise people against joining them. Them, and Medihelp. Goodness, no... I've been asking our HR for a while to move us somewhere else...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 I've been asking our HR for a while to move us somewhere else...Lurch - is your wife on there as well? One way to get out of a group scheme is by joining your spouse's med aid. If she is on it, she can elect to leave and join her own med aid (the compulsory nature of the med aid wouldn't extend to your OH) and then you follow her across once it's up and running...
Dirkitech Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Well, for what it is worth I wouldn't suggest discovery for anything. I was in an accident 4 months ago and still havent gone for my mri because discovery seems to be trying to avoid paying. every email query is answered with a copy paste of their stupid brochure. find a medical aid that deals with you personally, not through call centres and crap
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Well, for what it is worth I wouldn't suggest discovery for anything. I was in an accident 4 months ago and still havent gone for my mri because discovery seems to be trying to avoid paying. every email query is answered with a copy paste of their stupid brochure. find a medical aid that deals with you personally, not through call centres and crapYou on a Core plan?
Lurch the stalker Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Lurch - is your wife on there as well? One way to get out of a group scheme is by joining your spouse's med aid. If she is on it, she can elect to leave and join her own med aid (the compulsory nature of the med aid wouldn't extend to your OH) and then you follow her across once it's up and running...If I have to pick between Fedhealth or getting a wife, I'm happy to stay with Fedhealth thanks haha (In case that was unclear, I'm single )
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 If I have to pick between Fedhealth or getting a wife, I'm happy to stay with Fedhealth thanks haha (In case that was unclear, I'm single )LOL. Fair enough, mate. Then I'm afraid you're stuck. Until the firm decides to either make it non compulsory (which would affect new employees negatively) or changes to a new med aid... They could of course make an amendment in the compulsory nature of the scheme, saying a certain subset of employees is excluded from the compulsory status of the med aid, but not many companies are prepared to do that. Too much paperwork.
428 others Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Well, for what it is worth I wouldn't suggest discovery for anything. I was in an accident 4 months ago and still havent gone for my mri because discovery seems to be trying to avoid paying. every email query is answered with a copy paste of their stupid brochure. find a medical aid that deals with you personally, not through call centres and crap Discovery paid for my MRI, no questions asked
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) Discovery paid for my MRI, no questions askedThey won't if you're on a Core plan, unless you've already been admitted to hospital for something. IE: You've been diagnosed with cancer, they book you in for an MRI scan to see how bad it is. If you come in as an outpatient to have an MRI scan, or are admitted JUST to have an MRI / CT / Xray as part of an investigative procedure, they won't cover it. IE: You have back pain, and you are booked in to see if there is anything there. One is related to a procedure that has been pre-authorized and you're already on the benefit, the other is a pure investigation. In order to have full cover for MRI / CT scans, you need to be on a plan with day to day benefits. Or their new option, launching next year. I think Momentum are the only guys who pay for investigative MRI / CT scans on plans that don't have any day to day coverage. Edited November 5, 2015 by Myles Mayhew
Grebel Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 I think that the biggest problem with people bitching about medical aids is that they fail to understand the concept of risk.... eccc whippet and Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 2
Grebel Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) Having said that... You also need to read the fine print VERY carefully. Often times you only fully understand how a certain plan functions after you get burnt... (I speak from experience ) To me in the early days, Discovery was shyte. Always ran out of funds, always had to pay in. Now however after I did a little homework and asked the right people the right questions, my medical aid works for me. I refer back to my previous post on the understanding of the risk concept. By signing up for a particular package you need to fully understand the risk that you as a member will be carrying. Edit: Same concept applies to short term insurance.... Opt for the cheaper policy and chances are that you will come up short come claim time... Edited November 5, 2015 by Grebel Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1
Lurch the stalker Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 LOL. Fair enough, mate. Then I'm afraid you're stuck. Until the firm decides to either make it non compulsory (which would affect new employees negatively) or changes to a new med aid... They could of course make an amendment in the compulsory nature of the scheme, saying a certain subset of employees is excluded from the compulsory status of the med aid, but not many companies are prepared to do that. Too much paperwork. Yea they definitely will not do that (I asked )The 'problem' is we used to have a closed scheme for our corporate that was managed by Medscheme, then they decided to close that and move us to Fedhealth, and what we had before was way better so it will always be a sore point - I have heard no grumbling from new employees, just those of us who were here in the 'good old days'
eccc whippet Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 cut a long story short...i had medical aid...hospital plan...and other policies for disability etc...the dreaded day happened...had a motor bike accident...had my hand pinned back together then 2 weeks later they tried to repair my elbow...unfortunately the ball had a piece broken out...so they just cleaned out the pieces of bone and stitched it back up...had a plastic goodie made to support my hand and a sling for my arm...was told that i would never use my right arm again...and thats how it stayed for a long time...did have the benefit of private physio for a short period of time...then went to addington once they realised i was bankrupt and nobody was gona pay anyhting...you dont want to waste your time at addington then the bills started coming... hospital plan...sorry on page ...xyz in it clearly stated that my arms and legs were NOT covered by the plan...I work with my hands everyday old mutual disability...as a sole prop i dont work i dont earn an income ( dont let me get started with them) unfortunately because the broker had put life cover on all my policies they ate into the policies within a couple months they were all worthless...it took a couple years to get back on my feet and start working again. Sanlam policy...they did send me a nice letter explaining that due to my qualification and years of experience...they felt that i could get a job as a supervisor and therefore felt that a payout was not required. i didnt have medical for years...then i got involved with my wife and she does everything by the book...medical aid...top up cover...top up for 600 % over medical aid rates some doctors charge...you name it she has cover...my daughter ended up in hospital...160 k later everything the best in a private hospital...we only paid in R6k my father had a fall last week and he is on the transnet medical aid...which is pretty worthless compared to what it was many years ago...you get to go to a goverment hospital....what a traumatic experience...he had to go for a CT scan due to head injuries...he fell on thurday last week...he had the scan late friday night...after being moved from one hospital to another then back again...after this experience...i am glad i have medical aid and get to go to a private hospital of my choice. if i were still single chances are i wouldnt have medical aid
eccc whippet Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 I think that the biggest problem with people bitching about medical aids is that they fail to understand the concept of risk....agreed...and dont take the time to read the documents from cover to cover and understand them...or tget the broker to do their job and explain everything in detail...guilty. problem is we make the mistake of taking out policies with people who we think we can trust or a family friend etc. beware of broker who "adjust" your policies after a period of time...i took out my policies when i started working at 16 on the railways...then at 28 the broker advised that because i had a family etc...it was advisable to make certain changes and additions...to "improve" my policiesF%^&* did he screw me... anyway enough of this...it just gets me worked up because of my own stupidity and laziness...not taking the time to understand what i signed. Grebel 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now