The provision of medical insurance in South Africa goes back as far as the latter years of the 19th century, and in order to make medical insurance more accessible for more people, the medical schemes act was passed into the statute book in 1967.
Medical Insurance in South Africa is currently open to everyone, and there are many benefits to becoming a member of a medical aid scheme, the most obvious being the helps with the payments. In the past it was not unusual to find that medical insurance was only open to those people that had the income to cope with the high monthly payments. However, thanks to the medical schemes act, it was easier than ever before for companies to offer private medical insurance schemes, and this increased the competition in the marketplace. The effect of this increase in competition led to lower prices for monthly premiums on a whole range of healthcare plans. This then led to even more competition as many different medical aid providers lowered prices and increased the benefits of their healthcare plans in order to entice new members.
The benefits of joining a medical aid scheme far outweigh the risks, nevertheless, there are still thousands of South African citizens that are not members of a medical aid scheme. These people often state that they cannot afford the monthly payments of such a scheme, however, there are now so many different healthcare plans out there, that joining a low cost healthcare plan is a lot cheaper than ever before.
The entry-level plans offered by a lot of medical aid companies include cover against the costs of emergency hospital transportation and treatment. However, if you are looking to join a scheme that covers the costs of staying in hospital, then you will need to make sure that there is no limit on the amount of time you can spend in hospital. Some medical aid schemes set a limit of the amount of costs they will cover you for in the event that you end up in hospital. This could mean having to find extra money to complete your treatment, or else risk not having your treatment completed. Thankfully, there are a lot of basic hospital plans that offer unlimited hospital cover, meaning that you do not have to worry about your treatment being curtailed due to lack of funds.
