Medical Aid

[Speedster]

W

Would a hospital plan not cover this?

Hospital plan = medical aid.

 

[travcaine]

I'm ashamed to say that gap cover is the only thing I don't have. But I am looking for something that's reasonable. I do have an emergency fund of expenses go really pear.

Have a look at Turnberry. Great cover

 

[shelvpower]

I am on a decent medical aid and am so glad I am as I have a daughter with a serious long term issue we picked up on when she was 7. Her monthly medication currently comes to about 10K but if she needs specialized antibiotics that shoots up to 40K per month for a year or so and the medical aid pays it all.

Will a hospital plan cover these expenses as well or would it only be covered by a full medical aid?

 

[Shi]

Also look at the new Smart plans, mix of hospital with minimal day to day, it works out better for my family and I cost wise ( Fam of 4 ) and covers everything we need happily. It is very dependent though on you having a good hospital/doctor in the network nearby.

We're on Classic Smart which gives the classic level cover in Hospital ( 200% ) and a R50 copayment for doctors consults with minimal medication cover, about R1.5k less than equiv coastal saver with double the hospital benefit. You can bank the difference in prem and self fund medication ( which is all a MSA really does anyway ).

Really? Not according to this https://www.discovery.co.za/assets/discoverycoza/medical-aid/dhms-contributions-table-2019.pdf … the contributions are almost the same for Classic Smart and Coastal Saver. The MSA portion of Coastal Saver does have the benefit of carry over to following year.

 

[Kosmik]

Really? Not according to this https://www.discovery.co.za/assets/discoverycoza/medical-aid/dhms-contributions-table-2019.pdf … the contributions are almost the same for Classic Smart and Coastal Saver. The MSA portion of Coastal Saver does have the benefit of carry over to following year.

Look again, you are most likely viewing the first column group. You need to look at the last.

R4462 Vs R6072 pm for family of 4.

R 53, 550 vs R 72,864 per annum, differance of R 19,314 which vs the msa contribution of R 14,544 is a annual saving of R 4,770.

Most folks will ask, when last did your msa carry over? And not to mention the savings from paying cash up front at doctors, rewards for swiping etc, interest gained/saved by keeping the funds yourself and less hassle of having to fight for the use of your own money.

Always best to talk to a broker but the above is my personal choice, calculations and experiance.

 

[Nerhzelok]

Medical aid seems like a bad idea until you actually have a emergency or a medical problem. My dad had a heart bypass and several stents put in his legs this year, medical aid covered everything. And because my dad used a hospital in their medical aid's network, there was zero co-payments. To all the clever people who feel like medical aid is useless, trust me, you won't feel so clever when you actually get severely sick and require expense treatment. People have a very warped naive view on getting sick. Many people never saw their health problems coming...

As for OP, I am currently on the Discovery Coastal Saver plan. I pay R2400 and for that I get a hospital plan with all the frills and 20% of my premium goes to my Medical Savings Account for any out of hospital payments. That is more than enough to cover my dental visits, medication, doctor visits and optometrist. There is also tons of other plans at Discovery, the main difference being your premium vs your Medical Savings Account. You can consider also just getting a hospital plan and then saving R500 on your own for Out of Hospital expenses which can add up. There is no reason to feel like you must have a medical savings account. If you really want to save, look at Discovery's Smart Plans. VERY competitive rates but you have to go to a hospital in their network (which isn't a train smash imo) .

I’d have to agree with this. Was on one side of the fence, work forced me to get medical aid. I got into a bike accident and they covered everything.

The cost of my care equated to the sum of all my contributions anyways. Having the peace of mind I’d be taken care of, really helps.. Just get medical aid, negotiate for an increase and put your extra into an investment fund.. 2.5k a month isn’t a big deal for the care you’d receive should things go bad.

 

[johnjm]

It's insurance. At the very least have a hospital plan.

Are those that don't have medical insurance also omit to have motor vehicle insurance?

Doesn't make sense. Anything can change in the future, dint tempt Murphy and be covered if that time comes.