Now that almost anyone in South Africa is free to join a medical aid scheme in a private capacity, rather than only as a member of an employer’s group scheme agreement with a medical aid company, the number of companies offering medical cover has increased substantially. The choice of medical aid schemes that want your membership (and monthly contribution) is huge and, let’s be honest, downright confusing in most instances. How do you or I decide which medical aid scheme to join?
A Mammoth Task, or Simple and Straightforward?
Schemes all tell you how good they are, and it’s usually up to you to wade through tons of information, fine print, and so-called additional benefits to try and establish which medical aid to join, more often than not a mammoth task. At KeyHealth, we firmly believe that medical aid and its relevant informative literature should be simple, straightforward, and transparent. Simply put, and in our view, a person joins a medical aid scheme in order to receive the medical benefits and cover provided by the plan they’ve chosen at the company they’ve selected – no more, no less – simple, straightforward and transparent.
Defining Characteristic of Real Medical Aid
This view and approach throughout our entire medical aid scheme and its operation is a major defining characteristic that sets KeyHealth apart from our competitors. We don’t believe in offering budget holidays, bonus points for shopping at a variety of retailers, discounts on cameras, or movie tickets – things that have absolutely no bearing on the purpose of a medical aid scheme – the provision of medical aid cover, as and when it’s required by the member and/or his/her dependents.
So, here are a few pointers to make your informed decision and choice easier:
- Be clear in your own mind about why belonging to a medical scheme is essential. State medical resources are overburdened. Waiting lists for surgical procedures and queues at government hospitals and clinics are long; when you’re in need of medical assistance, you need it now. Moreover, you’d like to choose your practitioner, rather than seeing whomever happens to be available to consult with you on any given day.
- KeyHealth’s website provides a quick checklist and information to help guide you to decide on one of our plans that best suits your current situation, needs, and budget, with the basic understanding that medical aid is an insurance product that pays for your medical expenses if and when they occur, although you hope not to need to use it.
- Life happens. Medical treatments may cost hundreds of thousands of rand, expenses most people cannot afford to pay out of their own pockets. That’s why and when you really need medical aid.
- For your convenience, we’ve defined four membership categories – singles, couples, families, and single parents. This helps you to define your particular stage, status, and likely needs more clearly.
- Five KeyHealth medical aid plans, clearly, simply, and transparently described, including exclusions, procedures and benefits covered, as well as free benefits, limits, and monthly contributions.
When you want to join a plain, pure, smart, and simple medical aid scheme with a “what you see is what you get” approach, without frivolous quasi benefits, your decision is as straightforward as our range of plans – join KeyHealth.
