Save on medical expenses

Medical bills can take a large portion of your income.  Ansja Ferreira from PC Bruwer and Partners gives advice on how to save on medical expenses.

With a sore head and sore throat, you walk into the pharmacy with a prescription in your hand. The doctor has diagnosed you with an upper respiratory tract infection and you are sure that your medical aid will cover the antibiotics, cough syrup and painkillers. You are not prepared when the pharmacy assistant informs you that your medical aid day-to-day benefits for the year are exhausted. Now you have to pay for everything and when you walk out of the pharmacy you are R600 poorer than you were. This is money that you have not budgeted for. This time of year especially, many people can relate to this situation. Suppose a family of four fall sick together and it is necessary for everyone to go to the doctor. Depending on the diagnosis and the drugs that are prescribed, the doctor visits will cost possibly between R700 and R800 and the pharmacy account can easily be between R1 000 and R2 000. These amounts are only estimates and may be more or less. This is money that a person usually does not budget for at all. People then use their credit cards or get into debt to cover these costs. It often happens that people’s medical fund day-to-day benefits are exhausted first and it coincides with other major expenses at the end of the year like Christmas presents and family holidays. It could lead to a big money predicament.

To save money, expenditure must be reduced. It therefore makes sense that you should try to save on medical costs.

Use generic medications

When a doctor gives a prescription for a consultation, the patient can usually choose between a branded product and the generic version of that item at the pharmacy.

A pharmacist, Kenny Baker, explained that generic drugs are produced and distributed without patent protection. Generic medicines must contain the same active ingredients as the original formulation.

The generic drug must be identical or within acceptable bio-equivalent limits as the branded product, in terms of pharmacokinetic and pharmaco-dynamic properties. The generic drug must be identical to the brand name product in respect of dosage, strength, route of administration, safety, efficacy and intended use.

In most cases, generic products are available once the patent protection has expired on the original product. When generic products become available, market competition often leads to substantially lower prices for both the original brand name product and the generic forms thereof.

A brand product patent usually expires after seven to twelve years.

It is important to note that the developer of the original brand name product possibly paid billions of dollars or Euros on research and development of a new product and these costs must be recovered even before the patent expires. These costs are not applicable to manufacturers of generic medicines and therefore it is considerably cheaper than the brand name products.

Each person is unique and may respond differently to medication. Your doctor and pharmacist can provide guidance on the use of generic medications.

Avoid unnecessary doctor visits

It is not necessary to go to the doctor for every trivial thing. To only go for a series of physiotherapy treatments just because you want to receive a back massage will also exhaust your medical aid’s day-to-day benefits very quickly.

Consult your pharmacist

The pharmacist can often prescribe drugs that can help. You can thus save on the general practitioner’s fees and prescriptions.

The pharmacist can also refer you to a doctor when he considers it necessary. Some pharmacies also provide clinical services and do blood pressure readings and blood sugar tests at a minimum cost.

Keep records

It is a good idea to keep track of everyone in the family’s illnesses and health problems. Create a file for this purpose and write down dates, symptoms and drugs that were used for treatments. Write down what medical tests the person already had and what were the results thereof. Next time you visit the doctor, you can keep the doctor abreast of all previous treatments. Allergic reactions to bee stings and insect bites, food allergies, medications for which a person is allergic and health problems such as asthma, epilepsy, diabetes, should be recorded. By providing this background history to your doctor, unnecessary tests and extra costs can be eliminated and the diagnosis of a condition can be done as soon as possible.

Keep all your receipts of medical bills that you pay out of your own pocket. It can include accounts from doctors, including specialists and pharmacy bills. If you add all of this up, you might be surprised how much money you actually pay out of your own pocket for your medical expenses.

Prevention is better than cure

One of the most effective ways to reduce your medical costs is to have a healthy lifestyle. This includes to have a healthy weight, exercising regularly and to eliminate unhealthy habits like smoking and excessive use of salt. Try and boost your immune system. Stay out of the way of people who are obviously sick. A good multi-vitamin can help to strengthen your resistance to disease.

Eat a balanced diet. A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins and minerals needed for to gear our bodies against infections, diseases and to help it fight free radicals in the body. Our bodies need rest to recover from the stress of daily life and to restore our vitality.  A regular exercise program of at least 30 minutes three times a week helps us to build a strong immune system, get rid of stress and health problems such as high blood pressure. It is also important to drink enough water. Listen to your body. Customize your emotional and spiritual wellness. Make a little time for yourself every day. At the beginning of the year go for a full medical examination and do all tests and major investigations. This allows problems to be identified early, before it becomes serious and treatment costs become higher.

A balanced lifestyle

Look after your health because it is a precious gift. If you do not live a balanced life, it can later cost you dearly. The cost of an operation, such as a heart bypass for a person who may have been smoking, have high cholesterol and do little exercise, can be very high. Such a person may also have to stop working and the possibility that he could even die, is not excluded. Would it not be better for that person to start living healthier lives, to follow a balanced low fat diet, stop smoking and start exercising?

Keep immunizations up to date

Take your baby regularly to the clinic for a general examination and the necessary vaccinations. Make sure that your toddler’s immunizations against childhood diseases and other dangerous diseases are up to date.

Flu-injections before the flu season can also help. If you know that you are going to a malaria-invested area take the prescribed malaria pills. If you are planning a trip abroad, always make sure that your immunizations are up to date and you have preventive measures for your specific travel destination. Travel insurance that includes medical cover is also very important if you want to travel abroad.

Invest in a nebulizer

If you or your children are likely to get bronchitis, asthma or chest complaints, feel free to invest in a nebulizer. Some schemes even pay for it. A nebulizer dispenses liquid medicine into fine droplets that are released into the air. The patient can breathe them in through a mask that fits over the patient’s mouth and nose. This mask comes in adult, child and baby sizes.

Check your medical bills

Open a file for each year’s accounts and manage them. Check your medical bills for errors. Everyone makes mistakes. See if the report is accurate and check the date and services rendered. Errors and wrong computer codes easily sneak in. If you think you found an error, ensure that they are corrected immediately. Also make sure that claims are submitted to your medical aid, otherwise you are responsible for the payment thereof.

Do not take chances with your or your family’s health

Please do be penny wise and pound foolish. Don’t give prescription medication for one person to another. This can be dangerous. Health is more important than money.

Do not take chances with your or your family’s health. If it is really necessary, make a doctor’s appointment for you or your child.

Register your chronic condition to your medical fund

Chronic conditions such as diabetes, depression, epilepsy, blood pressure can be registered with your medical aid. You can claim chronic medication that does not affect your day-to-day benefits.

Build a nest egg for medical emergencies

Build a nest egg that you can use for unforeseen medical expenses when your medical fund is exhausted or for large deductibles or medication that is not covered by your medical aid. Many people have noticed that their medical fund’s day-to-day benefits will be exhausted before the end of the year. If you already notice this early in the year, you can pay an amount each month into a savings account to pay for medical expenses that will not be paid by your medical aid.

Deduct your medical costs from tax

According to PC Bruwer and Partners’ Tax Guide 2024, taxpayers may deduct medical aid contributions from taxation, but it is limited to an amount of R364 for the first two members and R240 for each additional member. Further contributions that are not specified accordingly can be deducted along with other medical expenses according to a calculation by SARS. Disabled persons may deduct all medical expenses from tax. According to the SARS website, a person with a disability is broadly defined as a person with a moderate to severe restriction on a person’s ability to perform daily activities because of a physical, sensory, communication, intellectual or mental disability that lasts than longer than a year and is confirmed by a duly registered medical practitioner. A form ITR-DD – confirms the diagnosis of disability for an individual taxpayer, and is available on www.sars.gov.za and must be completed in with consultation of a registered medical practitioner.

Medical aid funds: consider your options

Request quotations from different schemes and study each offer. The cheapest is not always the best. It is necessary to annually evaluate your medical aid. If you find that your day-to-day benefits have been used in early in the year and the rest of the year you have to pay all day-to-day medical expenses, it’s time to reconsider your options.