Bad things happen to other people. We don’t consciously think that way, but nobody really expects their health to deteriorate. No one knows if they’re going to be in an accident next week, or if they’re going to be chronically ill next month. We are healthy today, why wouldn’t we be healthy tomorrow? Our health is important to us, even if we do take it for granted.
Like most things in life, medical care is expensive. Money is tight for most people today, so of course we save where we can. Choosing between Hospital Cover and Medical Aid should be easy for us right? Hospital Cover is the cheaper option, but what exactly does it include? For your hospital cover to kick in, you need to be hospitalized. And that does not include a trip to the trauma unit for a few hours. Accommodation and inpatient hospital related treatments are covered, but certain major surgical procedures are not. Depending on which hospital plan you choose, you may also need to pay the rest of the medical costs from your own pocket. So if you don’t want any nasty surprises, be sure to read over everything before you decide on anything. The small print especially.
Medical Aid, on the other hand, is more comprehensive. Medical treatment is not limited to the hospital and additional benefits such as over the counter medication, dental and private doctors are included in medical aid schemes. That being said, it is rather expensive. Although some medical aid schemes are less pricey, there are also less benefits.
At the end of the day, we all want affordable medical aid. Before we decide which medical cover works best for us, we need to look at what we can afford. Do we use any chronic medication. Treat it like an exam, study the benefits of different medical schemes. If all we can afford today is hospital cover, we can always upgrade to medical aid tomorrow.