Choosing gap cover is more complicated than it sounds. Be it doctor’s appointments, a hospital stay, specialists or surgeries, gap cover protects medical aid members from all extra costs.
Brokers designed shortfall insurance to cover the differences between your medical aid tariff and what doctors charge.
As with medical aid schemes, there are many different gap cover plans available to choose from. Before you decide on gap cover options, there are some things to consider.
Choosing gap Cover and Finding the Gaps
More often than not, people believe that by choosing a full medical aid option, all health expenses are covered. This, however, is not the case. Even though your medical aid scheme claims to give full coverage, they don’t pay for everything.
Even though your medical aid scheme claims to give full coverage, they don’t pay for everything.
When choosing a gap cover provider and plan, you need to study your health scheme to identify gaps.
After finding these gaps, you’ll be able to choose a gap cover plan that does exactly what the name says – it will cover the gaps found in your medical scheme plan.
Keep in mind, gap cover can save you an independent fortune when applied correctly.
Consider Medical Rates when Choosing Gap Cover
In South Africa, private healthcare providers and specialists are free to charge whatever fee they find fit for the specific medical care that they provide.
Do research regarding the medical rates of private institutions and healthcare providers. These rates can sometimes be 300% to even 500% more than what your chosen medical scheme provider allocates for treatments.
If this is the case, you need to look for medical gap cover providers who will be able to fill the gap left between what your medical scheme ensures and what your chosen healthcare providers, specialists and surgeons charge.
Consider your Finances
Considering your financial standing plays a big role in the deciding whether you should invest in medical gap cover or not. Most people put extra money away for emergency situations.
But you need to consider whether these savings will be enough in the event of a health emergency. If you do not have any savings, you need to think about whether your monthly budget will be able to accommodate this.
Also, consider whether taking out a loan for these expenses will be possible for you. If none of these options sounds any good to you, getting gap cover might be your only other option. Just make sure to choose a coverage plan that will be affordable for you.
After considering these three important things, your choice regarding gap cover will be much easier.
Apply for a FREE Medical Shortfall Cover Quote! Just complete and submit the form. But do not do so if you don’t have medical aid because gap cover is exclusively for medical aid members. Click here for the list of medical schemes in South Africa.
