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Thread: Medical Aid problem with liberty

  1. #1
    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    Medical Aid problem with liberty

    Went to the pharmacy last week with prescription in hand.

    The drug seller said, "your medical aid says you have no benefits"
    'Strange seeing as this is a new year and I have the top of the range policy', says I, who then had to pay cash and move on.

    So queried this and received reply on email which said "you have no benefits". No additional information just this line - no person responsible, just from the Liberty team, which appears to be an anonymous person held to ransom in the depths of a liberty building.

    So I phoned the call center and the youngster on the other side said....
    'that medication is not on the list'.....'what list?', I ask......no answer
    'there is a safer alternative', she says.............'like what?, I ask......no answer
    'Since when do you override the doctors prescription?' ...mumbled reply.
    'The doctor must phone and ask us', she says.....'yeah like I can see every doctor now phoning your medical aid to get advise on a safer alternative'.

    I have never had this problem before and any request to escalate the call and speak to someone intelligent resulted in just being left holding, listening to dreadful tinned music. The third time I was cut off. My emails so far have been ignored.

    My medical aid, Medicover was bought out by Liberty at the end of last year and this is my first taste of Liberty Medical Scheme.

    Is anybody out there on the same scheme that has anything positive to add so that I can get a warm feeling?

    Has anybody has the same story?

    Should I be looking at moving?
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  2. #2
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Can't help you on the medical aid front, Marq. But I couldn't help noticing that my medical cover strategy is very much like your insurance cover strategy.

  3. #3
    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    Yes - I would do the same but when it comes to medical problems there could be a huge hole. I know how much a car or house contents costs or even try and budget a pension type plan etc ...but medical has no number - so its the one expense I close my eyes to. The only thing is I would at least like to have some control, but even that has disappeared now.

    I have had just had a call from them with promises and the usual 'we are new and sorting things out' stuff. At least the agro email with the title of 'pissed off member' sent to every email address I could find, got a response. Still waiting for the warm feeling though.
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    Gold Member twinscythe12332's Avatar
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    www.hellopeter.com
    go there, and complain away. They're one of the "company's who respond" so you should get some sucking up to fairly quickly. if they don't sort out your issue and just respond, you damage them by posting a note underneath stating "you've waited X days/weeks, nothing that was promised has been done."

  5. #5
    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    Thanks Brad.....but hellopeter is a real waste of time. We have discussed him on and off over the years on various threads. I think the end consensus was that his site is just a long list of complaints that nobody takes any notice of and the other thought was that these companies 'that respond' were just using the site as an alternative help desk scenario. I think another thought was that Peter was just interested in inducing companies to pay a 'subscription' in order to be able to respond, which it was felt by most was almost a type of blackmail situation. His first sentence on his site regarding himself says "Peter started out his career on the stage as a professional song-and-dance man" - this sort of sums it up for me.

    If one looks at the response of liberty health on the hellopeter site, one will see the same one liner for all the responses which says
    Liberty Medical Scheme understands the frustrations and anxiety that arise from misunderstandings and feelings of powerlessness.
    , in amongst some blurb on how to contact them. Signed off Kind Regards, Liberty Medical Scheme. The anonymous brush off routine where all complaints get the same treatment - a standard wording tells you nothing and you just know you wasted your time. How this is defined as a company that responds is not known other than they must have paid their blackm....er subscription to the man.

    This is the same as the email that I received from them regarding my prescription problem. I emailed and asked whats going on. The anonymous reply came back with exactly the same words and format as the hellopeter response, with the added one liner that said - exclusion as per scheme rules. They sure do what their email says...they understand how to create frustration, anxiety, misunderstanding and powerlessness.

    Great help and brush off once again.
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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Carte Blanche The M-Net Show!!!

    Contact them and explain your frustrations and then let them to their thing and watch Liberty explaining it away on TV. I normally will pay for my medication myself and try not to go to the doctor at all. Even if I get unexplained chest pains and horrible pain in my arms. Once I got hospitalised because I got a blackout. I am just thankful I woke up before they got the chance to do any tests and I signed myself out as soon as I was able to pull myself up.

    I am honestly too afraid to go... The expenses will wipe me out and then my family will end up paying these blood sucking doctors of ours! I would rather die than let my family pay the bill. Yes I am not healthy and yes I do have a extremely expensive medical plan but I dare not use it... It is as simple as that.

    I have seen on TV how doctors will destroy a family financially thus I have no respect for doctors or the work they do.
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

  7. #7
    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    doctors will destroy a family financially
    Yeah.. this always reminds of the words in a Roger Waters (ex Pink Floyd) song called Miracle.

    and a Doctor down in LA, saved a dying man for free....its a miracle, its a miracle
    or like the many stories of people being turned away from hospitals if they are not on a medical aid or cannot find R megacash just to check in.

    or like the psychiatrist who sued his patient a few weeks after the consultation for not paying his bill after treating the person for anxiety and suicide tendencies cause he was going insolvent.

    There must be a quid quo pro where everyones a winner here. The doctor sure didnt study all that stuff and put hours in for nothing. But then I am sure something inside says that they are here to help humanity and not just doing it for the bucks. Maybe one switches off and becomes immune to the bleatings of the sheeple after a while. How does the need for ones life balance up against the need for say , staying out of prison and I need an attorney, stack up? Both require professional people who have trained and put in the hours. One can do prison time if not able to afford the attorney but can one survive a serious accident cause you cannot afford the doctor? Should one of these professionals be denied his income as a result of it being for a different cause? Are professional people charging too much in relation to the rest of the worlds expectations and abilities? Should the small guy be denied these services because he does not earn as much? Does the labourer earning a low wage and putting huge effort not deserve the same level of treatment for his ails as the office manager who earns ten times as much?

    I would rather die than let my family pay the bill.
    I dont about this thought - are you not more valuable to your family alive and being able to earn in the future than being dead?
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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Right now my income is very low so I am not worth much to start with. As for family picking up the bill... They worked many hours and many years to have the little they have today. So will I allow 30 years of hard work to go down the drain just because I might need a R250000 operation? I be damned to hell before I let that happen!

    Yes my overly expensive hospital plan will cover for the operation but what if I am part of the 30% that doesn’t heal completely and I need more expensive treatments? Then my family have to pick up the bill? No... I will not do it and let nature take its course and if I strike-out then just too bad.

    I don’t want to sound all brave because the idea is downright terrifying and I am afraid of what the future might bring but face it. It is always about the money. To see my family enjoy the pleasures of life and don’t get me wrong we really do not have much... But to see them enjoy the little we do have I am more than happy to live with the pains and the numbness because it is not about me it is about them and I think once you realise that time is temporary anyway why worry about it. Enjoy what time you have...
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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    Platinum Member SilverNodashi's Avatar
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    it's all about the money! They don't care about you, or your health or your frustrations. They only care about your money and how much they can milk out of you.

    Isn't there an ombudsman for medical aid schemes that you could contact?
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  11. #10
    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    And my argument is if we had R280 million to spend on health services then there will be no need for costly medical bills to start with but... as we all know by now health care is not priority until some official gets sick.
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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