Your household budget has had a lot to contend with this year, including the rising cost of everything from fuel and groceries to electricity - not to mention increasing debt repayments. Under and over-insurance on medical cover can both be wasteful, which is why it's more important than ever to find that 'Goldilocks' level of cover.
TAKE STOCK
Cast your mind back over the past 12 to 24 months: did your medical savings account run out too early? Or did you find that your medical aid simply didn't cover certain expenses? The plan you've had for years may need to be retired.
Charleen Rix, head of healthcare consulting at Sasfin, suggests analysing what you and your family spent on healthcare over the past two years. This can help you pick up on trends, and allow you to gauge which benefits you make the most of, and what you spend, on average, on various 'benefit categories'. 'Ask yourself whether your family ran out of day-to-day funds, and how much in out-of-pocket expenses you had to cover,' she advises.
Before you rush into an upgrade, consider the follow-up question as well: do you fully understand how your current plan works? 'Often, you don't need to upgrade,' Rix says.
'You just need to understand how to extract greater value from your current plan.'
Here are a few ways she suggests to 'unlock' that untapped value:
- Use your scheme's preferred hospital or healthcare provider network to reduce co-payments.
- Make sure your claims are being covered by the correct benefit on your plan. For example, if your chronic condition is covered by your plan, have you applied to have it paid from the risk benefits, in other words not your day-to-day benefits?'
- Buy your chronic medication according to your scheme's current medicine list or formulary.
A LIFE CHANGE
This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of Fairlady.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of Fairlady.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Easter with edge
Grant knows what it's like to miss out on the celebrations that anchor family life.
The MALE bias
Historically, medical studies were mainly done on male mice and on men; and then extrapolated to treat women, as if a female body were just a smaller version of a male one. Here’s why that doesn’t make sense, and how to work with your body’s natural rhythm for better health.
Wellbeing
How to sleep better, feel better and look better!
The other type of CHEATING
Lies about money can have devastating consequences in a relationship.
THE 'PEST' IN PESTICIDES
oe r Despite many highly Hs hazardous pesticides being banned in their countries of origin, 192 of them are still legally exported to South Africa
START A BUSINESS LIKE a Saffer
There's nothing quite like a South African entrepreneur. In the face of adversity, they innovate and persevere. But what fuels that determination? We chatted to some self-starters to find out.
How to take the MONOTONY OUT OF MONOGAMY
It's easy to get complacent in a long-term relationship. Before you know it, your partner is little more than your roommate. Here's how to shake things up.
SUPER TROUPER
At one point, Josie Borain was the most famous model in the world. Her face was on every magazine that mattered. And in the madness of all that attention, she never lost her sense of self. She talks to us about turning 60, being single, and starting her third act with a move to the platteland.
Little wonder
Over the years we have visited 16 Greek islands, but when we first set foot on Halki, the little-known gem just south of Rhodes, we knew we'd found the closest thing to the perfect one. And we vowed to return. Often.
HOME AFFAIRS
These three entrepreneurs are redefining the heartbeat of homes through their unique blend of creativity, sustainability and purposeful design.