At Medshield, we cannot emphasise the importance of fully understanding the fundamental difference between hospital plans and hospital cash plans enough – because they are certainly not the same.
Cash Is Not Always King
Hospital cash plans, which typically only gives per day payments to the insured within a few specified days of admission to a recognised healthcare facility, may be seen as a product that provides a supplementary or a sole income, while the patient is hospitalised and, therefore, unable to work.
Daily cash pay-outs depend on the monthly fee selected by the member, but payments are not reserved for in-facility medical expenses at all. It is entirely up to the beneficiaries what they choose to fund with the payments received from their cash plans.
Anyone considering such an option should also be aware that daily payments cease immediately upon discharge, even though medicines and medical treatments may still be necessary while the patient is recuperating at home or back at work, which adds to expenses already incurred while hospitalised.
The patient is on his/her own as far as the funding of, and payment for, medical expenses are concerned and that might be a great deal of money. Such scenarios, which frequently occur, beg the question: would you want to face such worries when your life, health, wellbeing, and financial future may be at stake?
All medical costs are expensive and still rising constantly. Many people end up being admitted because of unplanned accidents and medical emergencies. In recent times, one is only hospitalised for any length of time because it is essential.
The days of keeping patients confined to a bed, being tended to by nurses for every need and niggle, are long gone, but all the latest, modern in-facility procedures, medicines, and consumables are charged for and must be paid. If you are a medical aid member, the majority of your fees will be paid in full by the scheme, according to the option’s relevant terms and conditions.
Medshield provides a selection of seven medical scheme plans, each with its own cover and membership contribution. The higher your monthly contribution, the more extensive the cover you receive to meet your medical expenses. However, all our options include unlimited in-hospital cover for medical emergencies, which is the foundation of plans.
Significant Additional Benefits
At Medshield, our MediCore hospital plan provides more than the most basic cover. Members and their listed dependants have unlimited in-hospital cover (through the Medshield Network Hospitals), plus cover for certain procedures at a higher ratel – 200%, the Medshield Private Tariff – double that of the standard Medshield Tariff, 100%. This significant above-average benefit allows our members to have more in-hospital options and additional peace of mind pertaining to their in-hospital healthcare and its potential financial implications.
If you are fit, healthy, and ideally young too (before age-related medical conditions are likely to strike), and you are able and willing to manage your day-to-day healthcare expenses, it is essential to have a MediCore or similar medical aid option, at the very least. Even if you are considerably older, of an age and stage when hospitalisation may become more likely, do ensure that you have joined one of the medical hospital plans available.
