5 Reasons to Get Medical Shortfall Insurance
Medical plans have set limits concerning what they will pay and what they will not pay. On a daily basis, it is becoming increasingly annoying but manageable. You can plan for your expenditure and work around them. What happens in the event of a medical emergency? If you require specialised medical care or hospitalisation and if your health plan will not foot the whole bill, what will you do? Here are 5 reasons to get medical shortfall insurance.
What is Gap Cover?
Medical cover tariffs are pre-determined by your health cover.
If you have a better health cover, it will pay up to 300% of the set rates.
Though this might sound good, wait until you factor in that a doctor could charge you up to 400% above this limit. Thus, in spite of having such a plan, the medical scheme will still require you to cough out more cash from your pocket, and that is the reason you should have gap cover.
A Gap cover is a form of short-term insurance that only takes care of expenses exceeding what your health plan will not cater for.
What is it going to cost me?
The cost depends on the level of cover you choose, and whether your immediate family should receive cover too.
Here are Zestlife’s 2025 premiums, for instance:
Before getting a plan, it is a good idea to find out what the cover entails. Though people often tempt one to choose the cheapest cover, it is not always the best option.
5 Reasons to get medical shortfall insurance
- For instance, if you choose option A for R400 monthly, will get a 200% cover excluding dentistry benefits.
- Perhaps option B goes for R450 per month, with dentistry covered.
- Thus, when doing the comparison test, the extra R50 monthly may not be seen worthwhile, but consider that moment when you are making a claim.
- What if you get into an accident? You could be staring at high costs of surgery and hospital stay among other expenses. Such expenses could run to thousands of Rands.
- Consider how much of that cost your medical plan will cover. Also, consider how much your gap cover would pay out. See selecting a cheaper option could be costly in the long-term.
Making the right decision
Since it is not always pleasant to think of a day when you or your loved one might require emergency medical care, avoiding the issue altogether might not help you that much after all.
There are lots of gap plans that are on offer in the market today. Thus choosing the right cover could be somewhat confusing.
Having said that, you should conduct your research before settling down on policy. Besides, you should take the time to understand what each provider is offering. Make a comparison objectively and do not be in a rush especially on the cost.
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