Medical aids consider covering breast reduction surgery

After Good Luck lead singer Juliet Harding challenged medical aid companies to change their policies on female-related policies such as breast reduction, Momentum has agreed to relook at a number of theirs.

Harding has suffered from back pain the majority of her life stemming from her large breasts. Her daily pain led her to many chiropractors and back specialists who advised she have breast reduction surgery to alleviate the pain.

However, many medical aids do not cover breast reduction surgery or there are various steps to receive the surgery as it is often considered ‘cosmetic’.

“I sent off all my letters, motivations and drawings to medical aid hoping that they would cover it as a legitimate solution to preventing further back surgery later in life, but they declined,” harding explains. “I was told ‘this is an exclusionary procedure which we do not cover, you signed the contract and therefore you agreed to it’… Ok CLEARLY these rules have been written by men because if they had half an idea of what its like and debilitating the pain can be then I don’t think this would be the case.”

Luckily the singer is in a position to pay for the surgery, and went through with it. However, she challenged Momentum and Discovery to revisit their policies to be more inclusive for those that need it but cannot afford it.

Since then, Harding has met with Momentum representatives who have agreed some of their policies are outdated and need to be updated. They will update such policies in their next review cycle in September.

Feature image: Instagram/Good Luck