Power up your medical aid to prevent unwanted Covid-19 bills
December 1, 2024
Yes, there is a way to power up your medical aid cover.
Fortunately gap insurance will take care of any shortfalls if you land up in hospital with Covid-19!
Covid-19 victims are going to cost medical aids a lot. And anyone landing in hospital with a coronavirus infection is probably going to have hefty co-payment bills to pay.
So in addition to coping with the coronavirus, the patient will have to pay certain expenses out of his or her own pocket.
Power Up Your Medical Aid with Gap Cover
Let’s say your hospital and specialist bills amount to R250 000. In all likelihood the medical aid plan you are on will NOT cover the full amount.
In the above scenario, the medical aid might agree to pay R180 000. That would leave you to pay R70 000 out of your own pocket!
No one needs to have Covid-19 and then also be faced with non-affordable medical bills.
Gap cover covers the gap between what the medical aid will pay and the actual medical bill.
So take out gap cover now, to insure yourself against exorbitant Covid-19 co-payments.
How Does Medical Gap Cover Work?
There is a big difference (in the tens of thousands of rand) between what a hospital stay and specialist consultations cost, and what medical schemes are actually prepared to pay.
The medical aids work of an internal price list while hospitals and specialists can LITERALLY charge what they like.
Sometimes they charge 6005 to 700% of what the price list says.
And any difference between the two is for the medical aid member’s pocket.
How much does gap cover cost?
It’s cheap, fortunately – and one policy covers all the members on your medical aid plan.
You can expect to pay the equivalent of about 10% of your monthly medical aid premium for your gap cover policy.
Here, for instance, is the 2024 price chart for Zestlife, a short term insurance company that specialises in gap cover for medical aid members.
If you are a medical aid member already, please complete and submit the form on this page so we can send you a gap cover quote and help you to sign up online and by phone.
All info was correct at time of publishing