Archive for the ‘Medical Services’ Category
As medical aids in South Africa tighten their belts, many new policies will be implemented that may upset some of its members. The GP-specialist referral system is one of those policies as many medical aids now restrict their members from visiting a medical specialist directly without a referral from their GP. Despite objections from medical aid members, many schemes are forced to implement this system not only for monetary reasons but also to offer the patient a complete managed healthcare service.
The past two years (2008, 2009) have seen a few small medical aids in South Africa becoming insolvent and filing for dissolution before the year end. This has left their members in the lurch, despite promises to pay outstanding medical bills to doctors and other practitioners. While medical aid members may claim to be ignorant, the warning signs should be evident to any attentive member. In these cases, it is best to switch over to a more stable medical aid rather than waiting for your medical aid to go bust.
Out-of-hospital medical aid benefits are not unlimited and most members would have experienced a situation where their medical aid funds were exhausted. Once your funds are depleted for the year, you will have to wait for the following year in order to qualify for the new benefit allocation. This is every medical aid member’s nightmare especially if it occurs early in the year but with careful planning, you can avoid this scenario.
There are a number of reasons why your insurance application may have been rejected and this varies among different companies and types of policies. For insurance policies providing life cover, dread disease or disability benefits as well as physical impairment and income protection, certain medical tests would be required. The results of these tests in conjunction with your profile (determined by your age, gender and family history) may led to your insurance policy being declined.
Medical aid cover is considered essential these days as the cost of private health care continues to rise. Even the simplest of ailments can be financially crippling if you need to be hospitalized or require extensive tests and investigations. While the public health care system strives to meet the needs of the population, there is no denying that it is understaffed and overworked and the level of care is substandard at times.
Searching for the best or cheapest medical aid available in South Africa, you will undoubtedly discover that most medical schemes have plans that are pretty much the same in price and benefits. No single scheme really stands out as the best medical aid in South Africa and each have pros and cons which you should take into consideration before signing up.
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