Why Medical Aid Cover is Essential in South Africa

Why medical aid cover is essential may be a question you have asked yourself a few times. Let me paint a picture for you. It is just another day. Your husband or wife is travelling to work and you receive a call that everyone dreads getting; your spouse has been in an accident and admitted to hospital.

You are one of those people who has not invested in medical aid cover and now what do you do? Your loved one is in hospital, has undergone an operation and now the medical bills start rolling in.

You will realise how much this accident is going to cost and all out of your own pocket. And you will berate yourself for not having invested in a medical aid or health insurance. Many people have gone through this kind of scenario. And they have ended up deep in debt afterwards, all because they did not invest in this kind of cover.

The stress of not being able to pay the medical bills gets added to the fact that while in hospital and Why Medical Aid Cover is Essential in South Africaperhaps afterwards too, your spouse is unable to earn a salary compounding your stress to higher levels.

Why the need for medical aid cover

Here are some facts that will highlight the need for cover for you  based on the expenses you could incur:

  • Paramedics see to you at the point of the accident and you are transported to hospital in an ambulance. You pay for this transportation. And depending on what service transports you, provincial or private, depends on how much you will pay. This amount can range anywhere from R500 to R1000 and more. 
  • You arrive at the hospital and then your costs really start mounting up. You pay for your hospital bed and theatre fees which can be anywhere from R50 000. Along with those fees come the doctor or specialist fees and these start at around R400 to R800 and progress from there. This fee is only a consultation fee and then the charges rise depending on the amount of time spent with you and in theatre. Depending on the severity of the accident, you could find yourself having to pay for high care facilities, increasing your expenses further from R1000 per day to R5000 per day and more. Then your recovery period starts and physiotherapy and post-op care begins with medication and rehabilitation sessions.

 

Conclusion

These are only a few of the costs and are only a minimum guideline to what expenses you could expect in a situation like this. The cost of living is so high now that an unexpected expense like this can potentially bankrupt you.

Medical aid cover in South Africa is affordable so my advice would be to take the time to do your homework on various medical aids and invest in a plan that will give you good hospital cover as well as day-to-day expenses. Once that is done, sit back and start enjoying the peace of mind you will get, knowing that you are covered with a great and essential investment safely in your pocket.

All info was correct at time of publishing