Tag: gap cover

Each year, medical aid becomes more expensive and slips further out of reach for many South Africans. Annual premium increases continue to outpace inflation far. As a result, staying covered has become an uphill battle. Many consumers are questioning whether their medical aid is worth the cost. Others are being forced to downgrade or abandon it entirely. If you're feeling the financial squeeze, you are not alone.

Understanding gap cover misconceptions is essential to ensure you make informed decisions about your medical expenses and coverage. Today’s consumers are facing more medical expense shortfalls, co-payments, and sub-limits than ever before. As a result, gap cover has become essential for comprehensive medical cover and protection against unexpected financial burdens.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths.

December is injury prevention month and preventing injury should obviously be a high priority. But when accidents do happen, knowing that your medical expenses will be covered, through a combination of medical aid and gap cover, can significantly ease the burden.

Healthcare in South Africa is in a state of flux due to a shifting regulatory landscape compounded by the current economic challenges the country is facing. This environment can be complex and challenging to navigate for most people, even if they have already purchased health cover products.

The South African government started discussing the National Health Insurance (NHI) in 2003. After several poor attempts at starting, most people thought that a fully funded first-world healthcare system could never become a reality.

Benefits are an important part of attracting and retaining talent for corporates, and these offerings can often be a point of differentiation. As such, many businesses have started to offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) to cater to physical, financial and mental health, along with the more common medical aid, pension and provident funds.

The recent presentation at the Board of Healthcare Funder’s annual conference by Christoff Raath, joint-CEO of Insight Actuaries, should garner wide support from the private healthcare industry. Raath quite rightly lamented the incredibly slow pace and prevaricating by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) in developing lower cost medical scheme options that could introduce millions more members into the private health sector.

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical claims looked very different to the usual patterns. Now, however, the COVID-19-bubble has burst, and we are beginning to get back to greater levels of normalcy. One thing that COVID-19 highlighted was the need to have adequate healthcare in place.

Medical aid rates have increased above inflation for a number of years. In addition, food prices have also increased by at least 10%, fuel prices are volatile, and salary increases are typically lower than inflation. The cost of living is higher than ever, and there is little relief in the form of tax credits and rebates.