@Molly Malone, I’m from South Africa. Medical aid here is also expensive, compared, but nowhere near what you guys are paying.
$9000 is like R 129,082.95 South African rands. That is R10 756.92 per month, more than a lot of peoples salaries. At R10k pm salary, one would pay like R1500 for medical aid.
That is crazy!
I do agree that most people in SA, all over the world, do not negotiate or shop around for medical prices. I learnt it from my aged mother, decades ago. She saw the pattern and said no, shop around for prices. We’ve all been doing it for a long time now.
Medical “Profession”? A mechanic, IT person, Dr, Dentist, groceries, attorney are all professional “business” people offering their services. Why pay them what they ask because they say so? It is our hard earned cash that we can spend how and where we believe we will get the best value.
Start a revolution, ask for quotes/estimates that includes discounts. If the person looks funny at you, go to the next one until someone sees where you are heading and jumps on-board. Offer to go to social media and tell everyone else you have a Dr / Dentist that can negotiate their prices. You save and the Dr / Dentist gets more clients.
And cash versus credit card, in SA, about a 3-5% saving right there, for the medical professional. Find out if the same applies there.
Hospitals are a wee bit more complicated as one is not talking to the financial person. Try and get to them, same recipe. First child we had we had to pay in about R20 000 on top of the medical aid. Not covered they said, specialist rates they said. So we learnt. Second child we made a “profit”, we saw how they worked, the buddy system, so we played by their rules on our terms by asking over and over, so how much will that cost? Is there a cheaper option, why do we need this, what is that for, why why why? When big unpronounceable words where used, we said nope, break it down, make it understandable, start again Dr.
Tests and extra consultations. We negotiate with our Dr what she tests for and what not, and where she send the tests, as I am the one paying. Extra consultations, we ask her, can you “fix it” or can we go straight to the specialist? She is a single mother, fully understands the cost implications.
Many years ago my wife was in the maternity ward next to another new mother. The new mother was a Dr. So typical me, I asked her, male / female Dr’s, who does it for the love of the job and who does it for money? She said, in her classes, most of the males where there for the money, most of the females, the vast minority, wanting to make a difference. Maybe find a female Dr and start there?
Change the way you view “The Medical Profession”. It is a business, like every other business in the world. You need a service rendered, get the best price.