Health fund check up
About Seniors subscriber, Bill, always assumed he had adequate health cover, never stopping to read the fine print. Let Bills’ tale of woe serve as a reminder to keep a check on what your health fund actually covers.
I think a warning should be given to all people with health insurance. My wife and I have had private health insurance with the same company for over 40 years and thought we had a high level of cover. However, last month when my wife, was due to enter hospital for a knee replacement, we were informed at the last moment our cover was not sufficient and the doctor needed a security paid before the operation of $30,000.
Now as pensioners this is of course is out of reach. We have now increased our health cover but will have to wait the required 12 month waiting period for the operation as it is now classed as a pre-existing ailment. I just feel that members of these funds should be aware of the gradual erosion of the allowed procedures in each level of insurance and should, unlike me, read the booklet they enclose with every letter that is sent.
This sort of incident is now endemic in western cultures and is by no means confined to Health Insurance. The "do gooders" of our world have been paranoid about the corporate world duping us into unfair contracts/arrangements and have been howling for "full disclosure" for years. On the surface, it has always seemed fair, reasonable and helpful for the common man in the street.
The reality is quite the reverse....... our corporate "friends" now have "terms and conditions", "product disclosure statements", schedules of fees/charges etc., etc. and they now inundate us with "information overload" as a matter of routine.
When a corporation wants to "put one over us", they have only to re-issue their "Terms and conditions" with the changes buried in the fine print......... now honestly, how many of us have the time/inclination to read the reams of fine print that now seem to accompany every product or service we use in our day to day lives? These days however, we cannot complain as we have been "fully informed" of any changes.
The same is now happening with disclosure of contents in our food and household products....... just look at all the labeling tricks being used to keep us in the dark about dangerous and even poisonous additives. You have to try to read bar-codes or have a long list of code numbers for colours, flavours, preservatives etc. They give us the information, but in a way that is totally impractical to the average consumer.