Medical Aid

 

Medical aid members still have to dig deep in their pockets

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Despite having medical aid, many members still have to fork out chunks of money out of their own pocket for healthcare products and services. “In South Africa, healthcare services and products is provided by parallel running public and private healthcare systems. Even though private healthcare is only available to a very small section of the..
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Are Medical Scheme Members aware of what they are paying for?

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The medical scheme industry is full of jargon and benefit structures that often leave the man on the street confused and frustrated when it comes to understanding and accessing their benefits. Medical schemes have in recent times attempted to simplify terminology to make it more understandable, but are they doing enough to ensure members know..
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Why medical aids are so expensive.

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Healthcare is complex. Our bodies are the most complex machines we know of, and our brains and minds work in ways we do not yet fully comprehend. Despite rapid advances in medicine it remains an imperfect and growing science. This article unpacks just some of the mysteries of the healthcare system. When health problems arise..
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The benefits on low blood pressure

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If you were born with blood pressure on the low side, that’s good news – but there are still a few things worth knowing about this condition. Having low blood pressure in your genetic make-up means you don’t face the risk of developing heart problems or having a stroke as a result of high blood..
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Therapy For Breast Cancer Is No Longer Cut And Dried

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High-profile media campaigns have made most South African women aware that breast cancer poses a very real risk. But the message that really needs to be conveyed is that the disease can affect anyone and that most women who get breast cancer do not have risk factors. In addition, more and more young women are..
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8 Symptoms of Endometriosis Many Doctors Don’t Recognize

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Endometriosis is one of the least understood female conditions. Despite the fact that roughly 1 in 10 women of reproductive age suffers from endometriosis (equivalent to 5 million women in the United States and 176 million women worldwide) very little is known about the condition (1,2). Worse yet, about three-quarters of these women experience pelvic..
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Disastrous antibiotic hazard from food

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The greatly excessive use of antibiotics in food production in recent decades has made many bacteria more resistant to antibiotics. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has estimated that antibiotic use in animal husbandry, poultry farming and aquaculture in the US is over four times USDA recommended levels. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drugs..
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Demarcation regulations: In whose best interests?

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Are the demarcation regulations a means for the department of health to erode the private healthcare system in preparation for NHI, or is opposition to its implementation merely an attempt by insurance companies to protect their bottom line? The Free Market Foundation (FMF) supports the theory of the former, using the argument that come 1..
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Why healthcare is so expensive in SA

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Some of the most significant contributors to soaring healthcare costs are fraud, waste and abuse. These are difficult to detect, monitor and prevent because the perpetrators are at every level of the delivery chain from healthcare providers at the top to policy holders at the bottom with many abusive acts playing out under the radar,..
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Oversupply of hospital beds contributes to healthcare inflation.

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Healthcare costs consistently outpace inflation. In South Africa, these costs are not regulated so it is pivotal for medical aid schemes to explore ways and means of decreasing costs on the supplier side, particularly with hospitals. This is coupled with a private healthcare industry cost blow-out in 2016 (largely related to increased hospital admission rates)..
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Two major medial aid changes in 2017 that you need to know about

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The National Treasury has introduced two new The National Treasury has introduced two new medical scheme regulations which will see a limit on the amount of gap cover and hospital cash-back policies you can claim, as well as the discontinuation of all primary healthcare policies. This is an effort to differentiate between “medical scheme products”..
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New medicines law will change rules on medical devices.

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When the amendments to the Medicines and Related Substances Act come into operation, it will result in significant changes to the regulatory regime currently in place. According to guidelines issued by the department of health and Medicines Control Council (MCC), the new regulations will apply to the manufacturing, importing, exporting and distribution of medium- and..
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Tax claims for your Medical Expenses

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Putting in a claim for your medical expenses can be tricky when filing your tax returns. I’d like to know if one can claim for medical expenses: 1. If medical aid doesn’t cover for the expenses paid; and 2. What if medical aid is exhausted and I pay out of my pocket, can I claim..
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15 Facts You Should Know About Open Medical Schemes

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How much do you really know about the inner workings of your medical scheme? Here are some quick facts on open medical schemes in SA. Whereas each scheme will readily provide you with the facts on themselves, not everyone has the time or the patience to do a comparative study. Fortunately, Alexander Forbes Health has..
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What does the law say about Medical negligence claims?

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Medical negligence can take place in so many ways, and as a result it sometimes appears impossible for the ordinary man on the street to know when and for what he may claim. In this article we highlight a few examples of possible negligence claims and the different forms of damages that can be claimed..
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