Compare Hospital Plans to Medical Aids
When you compare hospital plans with each other or medical aids, keep in mind that hospital plans don’t cover out-of-hospital treatments including visits to the doctor or purchasing of medicine from the pharmacy.
If you or your dependants suffer from a chronic condition you will thus have to pay for the medicine and doctor visits out of your own pocket. With chronic conditions being long-term, this can cost you a fortune in the long run. If none of you have any chronic conditions or you are all in excellent health, a hospital plan can work for you.
With a hospital plan the member is compensated through a daily dividend paid directly to their bank account if they are hospitalised. This amount is limited to the agreement and often is not enough to even cover the stay in the hospital. In many instances, the member can still not pay for expensive surgery.
It is thus better to opt for a medical aid that includes a hospital plan as part of their benefits package. In this way you are sure that the surgeries will be covered in addition to the hospital stay and any tests, as well as post-care costs. You can opt for a medical aid benefits plan with a smaller amount dedicated to day-to-day costs if you don’t suffer from any chronic conditions or don’t visit the doctor, dentist or optometrist on a regular basis.
Medical aid is often seen as a burden because people don’t necessarily visit doctors regularly and don’t land up in hospital often. However, when illness or injury strikes requiring expensive medical treatment, they regret not having planned for the financial expenses associated with such. By making small monthly contributions to a medical aid, the risk of not being able to afford treatment when needed is eliminated.
