A large portion of the people currently living and working in South Africa do not fully understand the benefits and the importance of joining a good medical aid scheme. Despite the fact that people take out insurance on a number of things, such as their homes and the latest electronic gadgets, taking care of their health needs seems to come way down the list. In order to combat this ignorance surrounding medical aid schemes, the Discovery Health Medical Scheme was set up to provide affordable and detailed medical coverage.
The Discovery Health Medical Scheme is just one of a hundred or so medical aid schemes currently in operation in South Africa. Their remit is to provide access to private hospital care in return for modest monthly premiums. The healthcare service in South Africa is currently a two-tiered system, divided between private medical providers and public medical providers. Private hospital and medical treatments are usually only open to people that have the required funds to pay for it, as well as those people that belong to a healthcare plan.
The Discovery Health Medical Scheme is designed to help people to meet the costs of private medical care. There are a number of different healthcare plans to choose from, and they will all offer something a little bit different, such as hospital cover, coverage for dental and optical treatments, right up to the treatment of chronic illnesses.
Choosing a medical aid scheme to join can be difficult, and it is worth making a list of the kinds of things that you wish to be covered against, as well as figuring out how much money you have to spend. This way you can eliminate those healthcare plans that are not suitable for you or beyond your financial means. Selecting the right options in a healthcare plan will depend on whether you need to be treated for any pre-existing medical conditions, as well as whether there is any family history of medical conditions that may affect you. A lot of young and healthy people can get away with just joining a basic hospital cover plan, which will help to pay for the costs of unexpected stays in hospital. Older people, and people with families, will probably be better off to join a healthcare plan that offers a more detailed level of coverage for more day-to-day medical needs, such as access to a GP or dentist.
