Here is an article about the best way to get medical gap cover. Gap cover doesn’t cover everything. Some of the things they won’t cover are –
- Pre-admission consultation costs;
- External appliances such as wheelchairs
- Home or private nursing;
- Mental health disorders
- Cosmetic procedures
- Co-payments for procedures that take place during your waiting period
Because it isn’t particularly expensive though, whatever coverage you choose, it can save you from a lot of financial trouble.
It’s not just a clear and cut matter choosing what others say is the best medical gap cover. That is because as financial products are only right when they suit your particular circumstances.
This gap cover is an insurance product and not a medical aid, and it’s designed to pay the gap between what your medical scheme pays, and what a specialist will charge you.
Best Way to Get Gap Cover – Be Careful of Cheap
If you ask ‘what is the best way to get medical gap cover in South Africa’, it’s not just about price. No,the cheapest one will not necessarily suit you.
Be careful of going too low with your gap cover premium because it could mean they’ll only cover you a 200% shortfall payment, so that you end up having to pay a portion of your medical bills still which could amount to a large sum that you can’t afford.
Look carefully at the rate at which the gap cover pays the shortfalls you incur. Many will settle a shortfall of up to 500%, and this is what you want. After all this is what medical gap cover is essentially about.
There are some gap cover providers that only provide 100% or 200% shortfall cover. It is important to choose gap cover that will adequately cover those shortfalls. You can suffer so much financial loss without gap cover.
Best Way to Get Gap Cover – Compare Price and Benefits to get the Best
The question now arises as to find the best way to get medical gap cover. South Africa has some excellent gap cover providers, some of which are Zestlife, Stratum, Ambledown, Complimed and others. Do research and find a good gap cover comparison site such as Hippo among others. Then compare one gap cover against the next.
You’ll see that the premiums you’ll pay each month and the benefits you get can vary significant, with gap cover varying in price – it all depends. Another reason you have to compare is that some providers don’t allow members over the age of 65 while others have special policies for people who are older than 80.
Gap cover also mostly requires just one policy for a single member and their dependants, so the way it works is that you essentially just pay once for all of you to be covered, provided you’re all on the same medical scheme.
Best Way to Get Gap Cover – Calculating what you’ll Pay
There are some gap cover products which have brought out a new way of calculating how much of the co-payment they will cover. Some of these gap cover providers have resorted to a payout system based on what the medical scheme pays.
Some pay up to twice what the medical scheme has paid and others up to 5x, depending on the policy you have. It simply means that if your medical bill from the specialist was R30 000 and your medical aid paid R9 000 of this, if your gap cover pays twice the medical scheme contribution, it means R9 000 x 2, which means gap cover will pay R18 000.
Best Way to Get Gap Cover – Compare to get the Best
Check out medical gap cover providers at a comparison site, request quotes, survey your options, make your choice and contact the provider – it’s a simple process and it can spare you loads of financial anguish.
To get a quick gap cover quote (note: gap cover is for medical aid members only)
just complete and submit the form on this page. It’s convenient and accurate.