Buying Medical Insurance can be daunting. You want to ensure that your decision will be a worthwhile investment. It doesn’t help that there are many providers with the promise to give you comprehensive coverage.

If you do not have the right information, you might end up signing up for a medical cover that won’t cover for your medical needs. Read this article for some helpful tips for buying health insurance.

Understanding the Basics

First important detail to go over is determining if you understand Medical Insurance.

A lot of times, there has been a confusion in distinguishing Medical Insurance from medical aid. Before going forward with anything, you must start by knowing the differences between the two.

Medical Insurance versus medical aid.

To simplify the differences, we have highlighted the most obvious differences between Medical Insurance and medical aid.

Type of cover

Medical Insurance covers your day-to-day medical expenses which includes visits to the doctor, optometrists, dentists, and access to other benefits depending on the insurance provider of choice.

In contrast, medical aid schemes cover a wide range of medical expenses including in-hospital benefits according to the National Recommended Price List and Prescribed Minimum Benefits (PMBs).

Pricing

Because of its wider benefits and coverage, Medical Aid plan is more costly than a Medical Insurance plan. Depending on the provider, you may pay less than R500 on a Medical Insurance plan while you pay twice that price for a standard medical aid cover.

Hospitalization

With a medical aid plan, you will have a more comprehensive coverage for hospitalization. But with Medical Insurance, you do not have the benefit of hospitalization but will be covered for chronic illness management.

That is how you will be able to distinguish between Medical Insurance and medical aid. With this knowledge, you can now assess your medical needs so you can choose the best Medical Insurance.

Assessing Your Needs

You wouldn’t want to take out a health insurance plan that will not cover you for your medical needs. That is why you also prioritize your own needs and those of the people you want to add as dependants on your cover.

Making a list of your needs is a good way of looking into what you need to prioritize. Ask yourself these questions:

• What are my medical needs?
• Do I need to visit a doctor frequently?
• Am I on chronic illness medication?
• Are my dependants going to be covered for the same benefits as me?
• Does the cover I’m looking to take up come with other essential benefits?
• Does the cover I want take care of my overall wellbeing including your mental health, financial and legal needs?
• Am I going to be able to buy Medical Insurance for the people who matter to me?

Answers to these questions will help shed light and help you choose the cover that will cater to your needs.

As a new Medical Insurance seeker, knowing your needs beyond medical coverage can come in handy. Some providers add rewards programme that help their members save on their monthly spending by partnering up with brands for discounts in certain products.

After assessing your needs, you need to research Medical Insurance providers and compare medical coverage. Here is how you can do that.

Research and Compare

The internet is a great tool to use when doing your research. You will use it to compare quotes and make sure you choose a cover that you can afford without compromising on your healthcare.

Compare benefits from different providers and assess trends in their pricing. This should help you estimate what the yearly increase should be. It also helps you look for options that suit you. In addition, you can also look for plans you can add on to your cover including accident cover and its buy-ups.

Some insurance providers have made it really easy for you to compare quotes by introducing health insurance calculators so you can see what your premiums will be should you go for that provider.

Word of mouth has been one of the long-standing strategies of research. You can also make use of it by asking for advice from people around you. Social media has also made it simpler to get other people’s opinions, especially those who are already know the product you are looking to take up.

Make an informed decision

By understanding Medical Insurance, assessing your needs, and considering research to find the most affordable cover, you will not go wrong. Use these Medical Insurance tips and start investing in your health.

Not all Medical Insurance plans are the same and benefits as well as limitations may vary. Descriptions of benefits given are meant to be for general educational purposes only and you must ensure that you seek the advice of a broker to ensure any product choice you make suits your individual needs.