Medical Insurance vs Medical Aid

[Andreas_187]

Hi,

I currently have zero medical cover so I was looking at my options. I found favourable medical insurance with One Plan which is far, far cheaper than anything I have seen with medical aid schemes but their cover is not bad at all.

Does anyone have any experience or insight into medical aid vs medical insurance.

Thanks

[ChrisF]

Hi,

I currently have zero medical cover so I was looking at my options. I found favourable medical insurance with One Plan which is far, far cheaper than anything I have seen with medical aid schemes but their cover is not bad at all.

Does anyone have any experience or insight into medical aid vs medical insurance.

Thanks

 

Andreas speak to a medical aid broker.  MANY of these brokers can provide you with comparitive quotes from a couple of different schemes.

 

 

There are some insanely products out there that promise to "Assist" with your medical costs ... but are not "medical aids", and technically you dont have medical aid, which in turn means your "late joiner penalty" is racking up for the day that you actually want to join a real medical aid.

 

 

Purely on a cost basis .... a network based hospital plan from any of the different medical aids may well be your most affordable option.

 

 

This is NOT medical aid advise.  Purely common knowledge principles shared so that you know which questions to ask from your broker.

[droo]

There's a very active hubber called Somethingorother Fatbastard Mayhem who will no doubt be along shortly.

 

Listen to him.

[Andreas_187]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I think I would be best advised to speak to a broker.

[The Ouzo]

** non professional advice, I have been out of the game for a while.**

 

As mentioned above, look very closely at what you are getting. 

Also take into account that having medical insurance instead of medical aid could very well exclude you from been admitted to private medical facilities.

 

When I was on a tighter budget and without kids I had a simple hospital plan. It at least counts as med aid when being admitted and it covered the important (and expensive) stuff should I land up in hospital.

[Gen]

** non professional advice, I have been out of the game for a while.**

 

As mentioned above, look very closely at what you are getting.

Also take into account that having medical insurance instead of medical aid could very well exclude you from been admitted to private medical facilities.

 

When I was on a tighter budget and without kids I had a simple hospital plan. It at least counts as med aid when being admitted and it covered the important (and expensive) stuff should I land up in hospital.

Yeah many of the medical insurance plans pay out after the fact and only pay out an amount per day that you spent in hospital subject to what the insurance covers.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yeah many of the medical insurance plans pay out after the fact and only pay out an amount per day that you spent in hospital subject to what the insurance covers.

^^this. 

 

They sell you a reasonable line, like "CASH WHEN YOU'RE IN HOSPITAL!" and some such garbage, which basically means that they'll pay you a certain amount per day, based on the type of injury / illness you're admitted for, and that amount will reduce each and every single day you're there. 

 

The amount advertised only ever gets paid out for the first couple of days and only covers a fraction of the costs associated with hospital admissions for even the most minor operation. 

 

In short. When there were older medical aids around (their functioning changed drastically for the better when Discovery came onto the market, back in the early 2000's) where there was only minimal hospital coverage, they served a very particular purpose as something that would pay for where you may not be covered. Now, they're pitching themselves as a "not alternative" to medical aid. 

 

Don't go near them unless that is the only option available to you and you absolutely cannot afford even the cheapest medical aid, where you at least have coverage for that hospital stay. You may not have full coverage for the surgeons, depending on whether it's a PMB or not, and the med aid you're on, but that's the small side of the bill and there is at least a baseline for what the med aid will pay a surgeon, so they're not covering nothing, there. The large side of the bill is generally on the Hospital side of things (blood, plasma, surgical implements, bed rate per hour, ICU bed per hour, theatre per minute charges all add up) and with a med aid, you're covered there in full as long as you adhere to their terms and conditions for the med aid you're on (certain hospitals for planned procedures, etc etc)

Edited May 9, 2020 by Captain Fastbastard Mayhem