What are my options if i have hiv/aids?
Nobody needs telling that HIV/AIDS is a major problem not only in South Africa, but right across the globe. It is an epidemic that is growing by the day!
It has come to that stage where everybody knows somebody with HIV/AIDS. It is a really serious problem that needs to be looked at in a serious way.
If you have HIV/AIDS then it is vital that you know what your options are regarding your Medical Aid fund.
How do I approach this issue?
All Medical Aid schemes have a strict confidentiality policy of some sort. This means that they will never disclose any HIV/AIDS related information about their members to anybody.
Will I need to have medical aid cover if I have aids?
Just as any medical illness, you can get by without medical aid insurance, but it is an expense that will, for the rest of your life, never go away.
The medical aid schemes provide you with health management programmes that provide you with care and medication that are most of the times included in your premiums. Sometimes you get a limit of roughly around R20 000 a year, which still greatly relieve your monthly expenditure!
How do i go about approaching this issue?
If you have HIV/AIDS you simply have to call your medical aid scheme's HIV/AIDS programme. That's it. Their consultants are all professionally trained people and of course discretion is guaranteed.
If you are a part of a group medical aid scheme, then you can be rest assured that approaching the schemes to go into the programmes will be guaranteed to be discreet. Your employer do not need to know about it, unless you personally inform him about it. No medical aid scheme will inform anyone other than yourself about it!
Me or somebody in my family or organisation is HIV/AIDS positive. How does this affect my Medical Aid Fund?
By law, no medical aid scheme may deny you cover. They may place some restrictions on your benefits, or a waiting period, but they may not deny you.
All the top medical aid schemes have internal health management programmes, or use outsourced ones. They all provide it in one way or another.
Such programmes are built into your benefit plans, and usually you won't be penalised in any way!