Don’t go without medical aid – take out gap cover and save
November 24, 2024
You might be wondering if it is wise to go without medical aid. Well no, it’s not a good idea at all. Monthly medical aid payments are one of those “necessary pains”.
Medical scheme membership is a grudge purchase. We get that. No, don’t get rid of your medical aid thinking you will be fine. Yes, you might be. But on the other hand you might not.
It could happen that you are in an accident or fall ill and you need excellent hospitalisation and specialist care. What then? The state health system is not in a position to help you. At all.
What do you mean “don’t be without medical aid and still save”?
Here’s how it works: take a good look at your medical scheme plan. There are lots of medical aids in South Africa, granted. However, remember that each medical aid offers a multitide of plans.
Instead of bringing your medical aid membership to an end, rather look at a cheap hospital plan. Important: your hospital plan MUST be from a registered medical scheme or this trick will not work.
Leading medical aids in South Africa
Some of these leading medical aids are Discovery, Genesis, Momentum, Selfmed, Bonitas, Fedhealth and so on. Most likely you are one of these open schemes (i.e. a scheme that absolutely anyone can join; in fact, by law everyone must be accepted if they can pay the premiums).
Right. Then figure out what the very cheapest plan is from your preferred medical aid. Following that, downgrade your medical scheme membership to level you can readily afford. (Tip: look at network options, where you have to use certain GPs / hospitals.)
Right, so now I have cheap medical aid. What now?
Now you need to close the gap between the cover that your new plan offers and the actual bills you would receive if you landed in hospital and needed specialist care.
Pick a top gap cover provider such as Zestlife, which we at Gap-Cover-Info.co.za like! You will be amazed at how affordable gap cover is compared to the life-saving insurance it provides.
Here is a guide to Zestlife’s fees in 2025:
It’s easy! Get your quote online on this page. Complete and submit the form and we will let you know how much gap cover will cost for your particular plan. Start now!
All info was correct at time of publishing