Medical Aid schemes for people with HIV and Aids are vital in order to ensure that if you have either of these conditions, that you can get the treatment in order to live a long and healthy life. Although many people think that you cannot become a part of a medical aid scheme due to the fact that they have HIV or Aids, this is in fact not the case.
What many people get confused with is that the medical aid providers have an exclusion policy for pre-existing chronic diseases which means that in the first year of membership, you will not be covered for chronic illnesses which include thyroid problems such as Hyper or Hypothyroidism, Arthritis, as well as HIV and Aids. However, this does not mean that you cannot enjoy the full benefits after the exclusion period is up. If you are now wondering why medical aids have these exclusion periods, then you should ask a representative from whichever medical service provider you are joining to explain them in full to you. One source claims that the reason why medical aids do this is because they pool all of their funds in order to provide care for those who need it most at any given time (www.vitacare.co.za). In addition to this, it allows them to safe guard themselves against members who may use up all of their benefits in one year and then leave the medical aid scheme.
For those of you who are looking for medical aid schemes for people with HIV and Aids, then you should contact any of the medical service providers in South Africa, such as Discovery Health, Fed Health or Momentum who can take you through the different policies that they have on offer. This way you will be able to see which medical aid provider has the best scheme for you. Many medical aids additionally have specialised schemes for those people dealing with HIV and Aids and the best thing is that you generally do not have to pay more for these programmes. It is also imperative that you join a medical aid scheme as they will be able to help you manage you the disease by facilitating the continuous monitoring of your CD4 counts and can provide you will all of the anti-retrovirals that you need in the correct dosages. The majority of the medical aid providers will additionally provide you with all the nutritional information and guidance in order to help you along your journey and to ensure that you live a long and healthy life.
If you are concerned that you application for medical insurance will be denied because of the fact that you are HIV positive, then you have no reason to fear as no medical aid provider can deny medical insurance based purely on the basis that you are HIV positive. If you apply for medical insurance and are denied because of the fact that you are HIV positive, this medical aid provider is acting in an unlawful manner and can be taken to court because of it. It is therefore imperative that if you are diagnosed with HIV or Aids that you ensure you know your rights as many people will try to discriminate against you and would be doing so unlawfully.
For more information about how to cope with the disease and the best medical aid providers for people living with HIV or Aids, then you should definitely take a visit to your local clinic or you GP who will be able to provide you with all the help you need. In addition to this, there are specialised HIV and Aids clinics in South Africa that can help you with the emotional and psychological effects of HIV such as The Well Project (www.thewellproject.org) and Avert (www.avert.org).