Beware When Choosing a Hospital Plan
Some of the hospital plans now on offer might seem too good to be true. That’s because they are. So choosing a hospital plan is critical.
It’s not because the providers of insurance-based (rather than medical scheme-based) hospital plans are dishonest.
That’s because a hospital plan from an insurance company is different from one from a medical aid scheme.
This is because medical schemes are obliged by law, in the form of the Medical Schemes Act, to pay for the treatment of 26 chronic conditions and a long list of other conditions.
Insurance companies do not have such limitations. They can structure their health insurance any way they like. That is, as long as they abide by the rules of the Financial Services Board.
Choosing a Hospital Plan
This means that you might assume that you are getting more cover than you are from an insurance company.
Unless you are very certain of what you will and will not be getting in the event of a claim, you should be vigilant when buying a hospital plan from an insurance company.
In general, it is much better to get cheap, affordable hospital cover from a medical scheme than from an insurance company.
There are a number of cheap plans being offered by well-advertised insurance firms. So medical aids are now offering cheap hospital plans too, which include cover for the conditions listed in the Medical Schemes Act regulations.
Here is a list of nine medical aids that offer cheap medical aid or hospital cover that compares favourably price-wise with the kind of hospital plans currently being advertised.
Discovery Keycare Series
Liberty Health
All info was correct at time of publishing