Can a lack of knowledge regarding Prescribed Minimum Benefits (PMBs) mean that you, instead of your medical scheme, end up paying for the treatment of conditions, diagnosis and care?
PMB's: Episode 1
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In this episode... |
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- Meet Suzie Q
- Suzie's new job
- Choosing a medical aid
- Meeting up with an old friend Nobolomko
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Meet Suzie Q, a 26 year old university graduate, who has just landed her dream job. For Suzie life has only really begun now that she is truly independent and she is enthusiastic about things to come. Although Suzie is a really bubbly person, she also has a serious side and knows that life also requires us to make some serious decisions. As was the case on her second day at her new job when she was summoned to the human resource manager's office to discuss medical aid choices. She recalls thinking to herself, "Ok, this should be easy" as she found her way through the maize of uncharted offices. Little did she know...
After 20 minutes of DSPs, DTPs, GPs, CDLs and generally more acronyms than her Bsc. Degree introduced in her five years of study, Suzie felt completely and utterly lost. "Shouldn't this be a case of A, B or C?" she remembered thinking. Suzie also remembers feeling a knot in her stomach when Clarence, the human resources manager, constantly reminded her of the need to be well taken care of in the case of diseases such as cancer, HIV, heart attacks and other seriously life altering conditions. Suzie had become all too familiar with the devastating effects of these ailments with her family and friends.
After work that day she called her close friend Nobolomko (meaning the wise one) to ask her out for coffee, as she really needed someone to confide in about some of her hidden fears and 'Lomko always seemed to know how to deal with these situations. At their favourite coffee shop Suzie confessed to 'Lomko her darkest fears about losing family or friends to dreadful diseases like HIV or Cancer and families being brought to their knees financially, because they discovered that their medical scheme was not going to be paying for the treatment. 'Lomko listened patiently for the better part of an hour before Suzie finally fell silent. 'Lomko reached over, grabbed Suzie's hand, looked her straight in the eyes and said "Suzie my sister, none of us truly know what life will throw at us, but in our hearts we must be warriors and face each challenge with courage, or to quote a great line from one of the greatest movies I've seen - "Get busy living, or get busy dyeing."
Somehow 'Lomko always knows just what to say in moments such as these, but perhaps it's more the conviction with which she says it that speaks deep into one's soul. 'Lomko told Suzie that the best thing she could do to overcome fear is to face it head on with courage and that in this case that would mean to go and find out everything she can about her family's medical history and about medical aids and 'prescribed minimum benefits' (or PMBs as the acronym gets thrown around).
So Suzie's journey began!
PMB's: Episode 2 - Suzie Q meets a dear friend to chat to her about Multiple Sclerosis and how her medical aid helps pay for her condition.