Medical treatment is fast-becoming an unmanageable service even for the working class or the self employed private business owner. In an effort to remain reasonably competitive at an affordable monthly premium level, medical aid organizations have cut their benefits to members. With tariffs as they stand, combined with limited daily care benefits, medical aid choices are only cost effective for those that enjoy shared contributions from their employers. Hospital plans have, for that reason, become the new reasonable substitute for lots of people.
Hospital plans offer much the same hospital treatment options as medical aid does, devoid of the day to day doctor treatments. By law hospital plans, however, must stick to the requirement of providing chronic medication for some 27 ailments. Such chronic treatment supplied will however be of a generic sort only in most instances. Like medical aid, there are various cost possibilities with hospital plans, which put limits to procedure costs, depending on the option chosen. Where the procedure levels are below the standard rates charged by the medical profession, there is an independent insurance cover option available that will fill the gap between the amounts. This is called gap insurance and is a very cost-effective option. Should you need surgical or other hospital based treatment, there's nothing stopping you from bargaining with the medical practitioners involved, on better rates of treatment, which in turn will be allowed, fitting to your hospital plan.
In the matter of retiring people where the continued membership and premium payments, to a medical aid, becomes their sole obligation a hospital plan turns into a workable option, as chronic medicine is included in the benefits of such plans. Premium costs can often be cut quite drastically and the resulting savings can be put aside to cover any day to day medical treatment, with cash to spare for Xmas presents! The same options may be totally acceptable to small business proprietors, and others earning a living for themselves, particularly in addition to 'gap' insurance. Reportedly only some 15% of the population of South Africa are covered by medical aid insurance cover of one or other description, indicating the absolute urgent attention to the provision of medical care. The proposed NHS (National Health System) is a few years away from full implementation and many people in the mean time are seeking alternative affordable medical care alternatives. At this time a hospital plan seems the only practical option for many people given the very high cost of medical procedures and care.
The high cost of medical care is not an uniquely South African problem, but is also widespread in the USA and other developed countries. President Obama made himself very unpopular with forcing the implementation of a HHS like system in the USA where it was viewed as a 'socialist' type manoeuvre by many persons, not the least by the medical fraternity. The UK has a NHS, which is continually under financial and other difficulties and the quality of medical treatment is sporadic, mainly depending on the quality of management. In the meantime a hospital plan seems to be at least hope to some individuals in the quest to affordable health care on the local scene.
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