Providing medical aid cover for your family is an essential undertaking that does not come cheap. Medical aids in South Africa can be pricey to say the least but without medical cover, you will be at the mercy of the understaffed and overworked public health sector. Family medical aid usually involves the main member along with an adult dependent and one or more child dependents. At times other dependents, like a grandparent, may also be added to the medical aid cover.
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Medical aids in South Africa are not cheap but the number of medical schemes with different plans and options will contain an affordable medical aid that is right for you. It is not a matter of joining the ‘best’ medical aid. All medical aids offer various plans which are similar. The decision you make for your medical aid option depends on your health care needs as well as your budget.
Under certain conditions, your membership of a medical aid may be suspended. In the event that this occurs, you should contact your medical aid immediately and find out why they have suspended your membership If they have a valid reason then you should follow their instructions to get your membership reinstated. If your membership was suspended unfairly, then you can contact the Council of Medical Schemes and lodge a complaint against the medical aid company.
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Once you reach the age of 18 years, you may not be eligible to remain on your parent’s or guardian’s medical aid at the same dependent rate for children. Most medical aids in South Africa may want to increase the rate at age 18 while others will do so at the age of 21 years. If your parent’s employer is subsidising the medical aid rates then your continued membership after a certain age may also be a problem.
There has been much confusion about the concept of hospital insurance plans which offer the beneficiary a daily cash remuneration for each day in hospital. These insurance plans are not medical aid hospital cover. Most private hospitals in South Africa will not recognise these insurance plans as being suitable financial backing for medical services and you will still have to pay cash upfront at the hospital. A medical aid on the other hand is a registered medical finance provider and will be accepted by most private hospitals.
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A medical aid is a form of health insurance where the scheme covers the costs of your medical needs. Should you require medical attention, you can visit a doctor or a hospital and your medical aid will pay for most, if not all of your medical expenses. In South Africa, your medical aid will often pay your doctor or the hospital directly for your medical expenses provided that your practitioner is contracted into medical aids.
