Medical/Surgical Operative Photography (Photo credit: phalinn)
The cost of decent health care in South Africa can put off a lot of people when they need medical assistance. This is partly due to the amount of money they are expected to pay in monthly premiums for their medical aid policy. Instead of paying out money each month, they would rather take their chances, and hope that they do not become ill or need treatment because of an accident. This cavalier attitude to personal health means that if the worst case scenario happens, that they are going to have to rely on the state funded health assistance that the South African government provide.
Thankfully, medical aid providers, such as BestMed, are now in a position to offer a range of affordable medical aid packages that are within the financial means of those people who are on low incomes. Companies like BestMed have seen the potential in the market for affordable medical aid cover, for those people who would not normally be able to afford it.
Relying on the state subsidised medical facilities is not always the best option, however, for a lot of people it is the only option, because they do not have any kind of medical aid coverage whatsoever.
South Africa is one of the leading countries, when it comes to the ability of its people to acquire private health care, and this is solely due to the medical aid scheme. Medical aid is better than a standard health insurance policy, because everyone who is on the same scheme pays the same premium as each other. That means that is a fairer system than private health insurance as it does not discriminate against those people with low incomes, or take advantage of people who earn a lot of money.
Another thing that sets medical aid apart from private health insurance is the fact that most people find that private health insurance policies can discriminate against people with pre-existing health problems. On top of which some people with serious health problems will not be able to join a private health insurance policy at all.
Basic medical aid schemes that are typically the cheapest to join can still offer a good level of coverage and things such as travel to hospital via ambulance and prescription medication costs can all be covered. All of these things can soon add up and on top of that you will be expected to pay towards any time you spend in hospital, so if you are in for a few nights then you could find yourself facing a hefty bill.
There is nothing worse than falling ill or being the victim of an unfortunate accident, only to discover that you are going to be receiving a large bill for all of your medical treatment once you leave the hospital. That is why it makes sense to join a medical aid scheme, so that the costs of decent and good quality health care, do not give you cause to stress and worry when you should be concentrating on recovering.
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