The Average Cost of Health Cover in South Africa
With so many health cover options to choose from in South Africa, it’s difficult to wrap one’s head around the cost of health cover. Read further for more on the average cost of health cover.
To make life simpler, we explore the cost of health cover to give you a better understanding of your options and what’s within your reach.
These are the cheapest and most affordable health cover options from seven insurers, across all categories in South Africa: cash back plans, hospital plans, hospital plans with savings, day-to-day cover, GP networks plans, and comprehensive coverage.
Cost of Health Cover
The amounts below may have increased since the beginning of 2017 when medical schemes announced their annual increases.
Hospital cash back plans:
Hospital cash back plans pay out a cash lump sum to the policyholder when they are in the hospital.
The insurance company will require the patient be hospitalised for a certain period before the payout is initiated. In most cases, a predetermined amount of money is paid out over a predetermined amount of time. It’s agreed upon by the policyholder and the insurance provider.
The amount of cash paid out by these plans varies according to the specific policy. This type of cover starts at R99 per person per month.
Hospital plans:
Hospital plans cover hospital services used when admitted.
These plans’ prices can range between R665 to R1745 per month for one member, depending on the kind of cover chosen.
The cheapest plan is Discovery Keycare Core atR665 to R1281 (depending on your income), followed by Genesis Private Choice at R950. The most expensive plan is Discovery Classic Core at R1745 per month.
Hospital plan with savings:
These types of plans are the same as hospital plans, but provide members with limited savings account for day-to-day usage.
The cheapest in this range is MediHelp Unify at R1752, followed by Genesis Private Plus at R1800.
On the more expensive end of these options is Momentum Extender Option 2 at R4061 per month for the primary member.
Hospital plans with day to day cover:
Again, this is the same as a standard hospital plan but has annual limits for day to day cover. These limits fall away and are renewed at the end of every year.
The plans’ prices range from R1392 to R2683, with MedShield MediValue being the cheapest and Bonitas Standard being the most expensive.
GP network plan:
Network plans are for younger members who enter the market for the first time. Also, these schemes work with specific doctors within a network frequented by members.
So the prices range from R586 to R2029, depending on the primary member’s income as the prices vary depending on income.
Comprehensive medical aid:
These are top of the range schemes and typically have unlimited hospital cover, as well as complete day-to-day benefits.
So these schemes’ prices for the primary member range from R2175 (Genesis Private Comprehensive) to R4061 (Momentum Extender Option 2).
All info was correct at time of publishing