doctors bills/medical aid

[murdock]

i was told to to make arrangement to collect and move my daughter to a state hospital from ICU when the medical aid ran out or sign over all my assets to the hospital

[Alta Murray]

No, what should have happened is that your *medical aid* not you, should have made arrangements to move your daughter to a state hospital. The hospital was using a scaring tactic.

The truth is that what happens then is that the State Hospitals do not have beds availabe in the ICU's, so the medical aid then needs to pay from a fund they have available for just such cases, until a bed can be found,which in our case was never. A patient may not be moved just because your medical aid has run out.

Don't worry, I also didn't know this. My father couldn't be moved as there were no beds available, and his medical aid had to pay up. The State Hospitals are filled to capacity in their ICU wards, and I was told that it is because of a slower turnover rate of patients due to AIDS as a contributing factor. A healthy person without AIDS recover more quickly, so you have beds available in a shorter time span. This is not the current case.

Also remember that no private hospital may send you away if you have no money and arrive in a critical condition. They have to stabilize you first. If you don't know this, you will be turned away. If you are on a medical aid but your hospital fund has been depleted, you may still be admitted to a private hospital, but then your medical aid has to cover the cost as stipulated by the Department of Health, it will most certainly not cover all your cost, but at least it is something.

If they had a bed available for your daughter in a State ICU as determined by your medical aid, and your doctor had confirmed that she was stable enough to be moved, then and only then, are the hospital allowed to make such a call.

I hope with all my heart that your daughter is better.

[murdock]

she is 17 years old now this happened when she was 3 months old...i must say something...i know it is years since it happened but i am gona say it...thank you again and again and again to all the people from the baptist church in westville who went out of their way to help in many ways.

it is amazing how people from church groups make life a little easier for you in times of need...again recently i moved into a house and the neighbours came over with dinner and to help with anything they could.

i take my hat off to all true christian people...i am not one unfortunately but hopefully one day i will become one.

[Alta Murray]

Hi Murdock,

I don't know what I would have done this past year without the support of others and my faith. Faith does not mean that you have to be a Christian as portrayed by the world man, you can find your own space and the love in your own heart. God is the only one who will ever understand, so that's cool.

I had people helping me out from different denominations,and you know what?

Above all remains love. So don't worry, your probably a Christian without knowing it

[murdock]

i went to see angus bucham on saturday afternoon...i was amazed at the turnout...and the dedication of people...i was however a bit dissapointed because i thought he was the speaker for the afternoon but instead he only spoke right at the end... and i had not seen faith like potatoes...someone gave me the dvd on saturday night...if you plan on going to one of gatherings make sure you see the dvd first so you can have a better understanding of what he is all about.