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Category:
Insurance
News /
Medical
Aid /
July 2008
Can You Afford To Be Without A Medical Aid Scheme?
 Imagine the nightmare of being in a car accident when driving home
from dinner one night with your family. All you hear are screams and
you taste blood in your mouth and then suddenly there are flashing
lights and the paramedics are pulling you and your loved ones out of
the wreckage. Everyone seems to be alive but you can’t tell as you
get piled into ambulances and taken to the nearest emergency unit.
The only thing is that you don’t have a medical aid scheme covering
either you or your family, and so the ambulances have to drive
further to the nearest public hospital, where you discover you’re
family is all alive, but badly injured. And so, for months
afterwards you are forced to pay the medical bills you and your
family incurred in an accident that was not even your fault to begin
with.
This may seem like a scenario out of a Hollywood or television
drama, but it is something that can so easily happen to you today,
especially considering the frequency of traffic accidents on South
Africa’s roads. The last thing on your mind during a time of injury,
or worse, tragedy, should be the nagging worry of how much this is
all costing and how on earth are you going to pay it. This is why
leading South African insurance companies offer comprehensive
medical aid schemes tailored to help you when you need it the most.
The statistics with regard to medical aid schemes are quite
shocking, however. South Africa has around 160 medical aid schemes
on offer to individuals or businesses, but in 2006 it was estimated
that less than 15% of South Africans were actually a part of one.
Now we all know the big names in the medical insurance world, such
as Discovery Health, Fedhealth, Momentum, Liberty life, Oxygen and
Key Health among many others. We see their adverts on television all
the time, we hear about them on the radio and in the news, but often
we don’t pay any more attention to them than we do to the hundreds
of other ads we see and hear everyday, and often to our own
financial detriment.
When signing on, or renewing any medical aid scheme, then, it
becomes important for you to be aware of all the facts, and to
understand just exactly what it is that you are paying for in your
deductible every month and what this entitles you to in terms of
health coverage, doctor’s fees and medicines. With this in mind,
shopping around and taking advantage of the many free medical aid
quotes on offer from these various companies is a very good idea,
especially when you are looking to sign on with a new medical aid
scheme either individually or with those schemes offered through
your place of employment.
So, the next time you see an advert for a medical aid scheme and you
currently do not belong to any, just stop and think: what would you
do if you were suddenly faced with a large medical bill? Could you
afford to pay it? And then ask yourself: can you afford to be
without a medical aid scheme?
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