Ways To Choose a Medical Aid in SA
Everyone in South Africa needs a medical aid – that is for sure. But certainly, not everyone has medical aid. The main reason is that thousands just simply cannot afford it. Neither is it easy selecting the right one just for you and maybe your family members too. There are ways to choose a medical aid in SA, but you need to realise that it can take a big chunk out of your salary each and every month. Here are some ways to choose a medical aid in South Africa.
Comprehensive medical aid or hospital plan
An important point to consider is whether you need a full medical aid or a hospital plan. For instance, if you are young, single and healthy, a hospital plan is probably an excellent choice. If you have a family or you suffer from the certain medical condition, you might well need full cover. You need to choose a scheme that would provide for your particular ailments.
Another critical thing to consider is your financial status. A full medical aid can be pretty expensive. You need to find the one that will give you the best solution, and that includes for your spouse and children. You need to know exactly what your contribution would be. You also need to know what their payment record is like as well as what their solvency ratio is like.
What is on offer
A medical scheme can look very fantastic on paper, but you need to check out important things like what your day-to-day limits would. Or how much money for the year is allowed from your medical savings account? Many hospitals, especially the private ones did often charge rates according to medical aid rates. You could end up with a huge bill at the end of your stay that you thought was going to be covered.
Ways To Choose – A broker can help you choose
If you are in doubt about which medical aid or hospital plan to belong to, you can always visit an independent broker. They do not promote any particular schemes. They will be able to help you choose the one that suits you the best. If you are a brand new medical aid member and have not belonged to a previous scheme, you might find out that you can’t claim day-to-day expenses until after three months. It is as a protection for you as well as the medical aid and its members.
Other important things to look at
- Hospital limits: If your medical aid pays out for your family R500 000 per year, you need to know what the amount would be if all of your family members were in one accident together – check what a stay in a hospital for a week would cost you and your family members
- Check the cancer cover
- Loot at the HIV cover
- Check whether a hospital plan will cover care in a hospice as well as psychiatric stays in a hospital
Fedhealth, a very established medical aid in South Africa, believe that everybody wants to be in good hands when hospitalised; they want the best treatment. Some hospital plans will restrict admittance only to specific hospitals. You need to make sure you are close to the chosen network hospitals. Select the medical aid or hospital plan option that suits your needs best.
All info was correct at time of publishing