For this month’s newsletter we have developed a case study around a medical aid incident experienced by one of our clients, in order to illustrate the importance of having proper medical aid cover in place.
Mr X is the 14-year-old son of one of WMD’s clients. During a high school rugby game last year, he tore his knee ligament and meniscus and was referred to do an x-ray by his physiotherapist. The x-rays failed to pick up on the extent of the damage that was caused, and therefore Mr X was referred to an orthopaedist who recommended an MRI scan.
As a result, Mr X had to undergo an operation to restore the injury, as the only solution for him to be able to continue with his school rugby career. The operation entailed the following:
- Hospitalisation for 2 days
- Specialist in knee injuries and reconstruction
- Specialist orthopaedist
- Orthopaedist
- Anesthesiologist
- In-hospital physiotherapy
Thereafter, Mr X had to undergo 9 months of rehabilitation with weekly visits to a physiotherapist and biokineticist to restore his knee. All these medical costs related to the injury totalled the following:
| MRI scan | R12 000 |
| Operation in hospital | R122 000 |
| Rehabilitation | R15 300 |
| TOTAL | R149 300 |
Thankfully the client had medical aid in place which covered all of the abovementioned expenses:
Medical aid plan: Discovery Health Classic Comprehensive
Mr X’s experience highlights how easily an accident can happen over which we have no control. If the family did not have medical aid cover, they would have had to resort to using R150 000 of savings or having to take out a loan to cover these necessary medical expenses. Depending on your medical aid plan, it would take more than two years’ contributions to make up R150 000 of medical aid costs. Start thinking of your medical aid contributions as a necessity rather than a grudge purchase, because accidents, injuries and illnesses are out of our control.