Jules, the frontwoman of GOODLUCK recently had a breast reduction and decided to use her platform to speak out about the biased medical aid policies… preventing women from accessing this surgery.
Cape Town, South Africa (03 February 2020) – On the 29th of January, Jules the frontwoman for the band GOODLUCK, spoke out against the current medical aid policies relating to breast reduction surgeries. She has suffered from back pain most of her life and decided to have the life-changing breast reduction surgery but Jules was shocked to find that her medical aid wouldn’t cover the operation, thankfully, her career afforded her the opportunity to pay for it privately.
Jules lay recovering from the surgery but couldn’t shake the feeling of being let down by her medical aid. They deemed the operation as cosmetic, but the surgery is, in fact, preventative to severe back problems later in life. While she could afford to cover the costs, she lay there thinking of every woman who can’t.
Jules took to social media to vent her frustrations and stirred a movement she never dreamed needed starting. She then challenged Momentum and Discovery medical aids to reach out so they could discuss the policies that were “clearly written by men”.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to make this public but I’ve decided to. So yesterday I had breast reduction surgery which went very well! It was a big decision for me because on the one hand a lot of people admired my big boobs and would tell me how lucky I was to have them, but then, on the other hand, I was living in so much pain, every day.
After many trips to the chiro and a few back specialists, we figured out that the best way to help my situation would be this surgery. Then the next part… paying for it. 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. 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 it’s like and debilitating the pain can be then I don’t think this would be the case. But anyways, I didn’t fight them because I was in a fortunate position to have saved the money for the op but now I’m thinking that I really should have because how many women can not afford it that really do need it? I mean sure if it’s cosmetic then no, but if there is a problem that has been motivated by doctors? Surely!
I would like to challenge both Momentum (my current Medical Aid) and Discovery South Africa to both relook at this policy exclusion… Besides you don’t think back surgery will be more expensive?! Ok, so this is me literally burning my bra on behalf of women in South Africa and saying whichever medical aid company reconsiders this will have my backing and my business! Love Jules xx”
After posting, thousands of women started commenting on the post and thanking Jules for speaking out. Shortly after the post went public, Jules’ medical aid actually reached out to set up a meeting.
“I had no idea how far and wide this would spread and how big of an issue this is for a lot of women. The good news is that I have just had a request to open a dialogue with Momentum this afternoon. I am glad they have reached out and I do hope some positive change can come about because of this. Let’s see what happens – holding thumbs for some good news!”
Discovery, one of the top medical aid providers in South Africa, has yet to reach out, but Jules is still holding thumbs they join the conversation. She wants to let people know she isn’t bashing any of the medical aid providers; her only goal is to start a dialogue about the restrictive policies.
“All I would love to achieve is an open dialogue on behalf of women in South Africa on how slight changes can be processed to improve the systems. Medical aids really do help a lot of people, so I am not out here bashing them entirely but I believe this is an area where they can improve and an opportunity for all medical aid in SA to be better. As always sending love, Jules”
UPDATE: Since posting this, we can confirm there has been some very good news from Jules regarding the stance being taken by Medical Aids. Read the update here.
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