In South Africa, health care can be very expensive, and a visit to the doctor can eat up a huge portion of your budget. Fortunately, medical aid schemes are available to ease some of the financial stress of health care. You can compare different medical aid quotes by using an online comparison tool such as Hippo.
The prices for medical schemes vary, and as you get older, the premiums may increase. With so many options available, you might be wondering how to choose the right one for you.
Top Medical Aid Schemes List in South Africa In No Particular Order
Discovery Health
Momentum
MediHelp
Bonitas
BestMed
GEMS (Government Medical Aid)
Discovery Health in SA
Offers over twenty-three different health plans, each designed to meet a different need. They range from the most comprehensive private healthcare cover on their Executive Plan to the most affordable plans with an extensive network of providers.
Momentum Medical Scheme
Offers comprehensive cover, including for chronic conditions, and it delivers medication for free if you’ve got four or more children.
It’s the third largest medical aid in South Africa, and offers a choice of open and state hospitals. Momentum Health also has no annual limit on hospitalisation and offers 24/7 medical advice. The Momentum Medical Scheme is a good choice if you’re a student or a breadwinner.
Bestmed in South Africa
Is another excellent and pioneering option for medical cover in South Africa. As a non-profit open medical scheme registered with the Council of Medical Scheme, Bestmed has been providing healthcare for 52 years. While not one of the top 15 open medical aid schemes, Bestmed has over ninety-five thousand beneficiaries and a high customer satisfaction rating.
The South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SACSI) measures the satisfaction level of medical aid policyholders. In a study conducted in late 2014, 3,297 South African medical aid policyholders were surveyed. The result showed that the overall satisfaction level of members of the major medical schemes has decreased. In addition, some medical schemes have recorded their lowest levels of customer loyalty in six years.
Public hospitals in South Africa lack resources and are overcrowded. Many of these hospitals do not have adequate resources to upgrade outdated equipment, pay their staff competitive wages, or stock pharmacies. As such, patients are subject to long waiting times. While some of these hospitals offer excellent care, they are notoriously overcrowded and do not allow privacy for patients.
Medical Aid Ratings According to South African Users
One of the best ways to rate a medical aid is to hear the voice of the actual users or customers.
According to a customer satisfaction poll conducted in a much more recent survey in 2021 that’s listed on BusinessTech Here reflects how Customer satisfaction and loyalty has hit a 6 year low.
With it being 2021, the dead center of the pandemic, could this have negatively affected customer satisfaction with the excess strain and overload on the medical sector, from Doctors and professional workers down to all admin staff?
Nevertheless, the stats from 1,950 customers (medical scheme members) during the above period (2021), were tallied.
Keep in mind that industry standard is 73.5 let’s tally up our competitors!
Drumroll…
While remaining schemes emerged either on or far below industry standards, Bestmed took the medal for the overall medical user satisfaction!
Bestmed achieved a score of 76.7, above the industry standard.
Bonitas (73.7),
Discovery (73.7)
And Those Below Par of 73.5:
Medihelp (72.3)
Runners up…
GEMS (69.4) and surprisingly…
Momentum (69.9) below par!
To summarize these stats:
