Tag: Tony Singleton

December is injury prevention month and preventing injury should obviously be a high priority. But when accidents do happen, knowing that your medical expenses will be covered, through a combination of medical aid and gap cover, can significantly ease the burden.

Benefits are an important part of attracting and retaining talent for corporates, and these offerings can often be a point of differentiation. As such, many businesses have started to offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) to cater to physical, financial and mental health, along with the more common medical aid, pension and provident funds.

Medical aid rates have increased above inflation for a number of years. In addition, food prices have also increased by at least 10%, fuel prices are volatile, and salary increases are typically lower than inflation. The cost of living is higher than ever, and there is little relief in the form of tax credits and rebates.

Medical aids have released their rates for 2020, and there are increases ahead of inflation. While it may not seem that way to the end customer, medical aids are locked in a delicate balancing act to maintain a tolerable level of increase and keep private healthcare affordable.

Medical aids all have a ‘medical aid rate’, which is a maximum amount they will pay for certain treatments. This rate differs depending on the medical cover you have, but is typically a maximum of 200% of their scheme rate.

Understanding ICD-10 codes is vital to effectively manage one’s medical and financial affairs. You’ve probably heard about ICD-10 codes somewhere in conversations with your Medical Aid company or perhaps your insurance broker, but for many of us, the realm of ICD-10 codes remains a mysterious one blanketed in confusion.