Cheap Hospital Plan
So you need a cheap hospital plan. You need medical cover in case you ever need to be hospitalised. Finding affordable hospital plans suitable for your needs is a challenging task. Not all medical aids offer a cheap hospital plan, but they do promise private healthcare, as well as good financial coverage. Many other medical aids have cheaper premiums and limited benefits.
What is the best hospital plan South Africa offers?
It’s hard to say what the best hospital plan is. The average person is simply looking for peace of mind knowing that they have cover when they need it most. 
When doing your research, look for words like
- “unlimited”.
- “PMBs” (prescribed minimum benefits).
- “100%” or “200%”.
- ” company rates”.
- “co-payments”.
From this type of information you could presume that the hospital plan that offers the best benefits would have unlimited hospital cover. You would want this to include the highest percentage possible at the private health insurance rates. A good example: “Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists on a payment arrangement, and up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate for other healthcare professionals”. This type of cover would not constitute a cheap hospital plan.
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What are cheap hospital plans South Africa offers?
The cheap hospital plan would most definitely have its limits. A basic hospital plan will still provide you with cover, but with most plans this would not include a choice of just any private hospital. Most medical aids have now negotiated affordable rates with specific hospitals which they then group and call network hospitals. The treatment wouldn’t be different to any other hospital outside of the network, they just simply offer more affordable costs to the insurance companies.
Cheap hospital plans like Bestmed hospital plan-Pulse1 would also often specify “100% scheme tariff”. This, should you be at the network hospital, will be sufficient coverage. They would also exclude prosthesis cover and specify different “co-payments where procedure has been clinically approved”.
Another cheap hospital plan option would be the Bonitas hospital plan. Their BonCap option: although the annual limit is unlimited, they have many other limits. This would include surgical procedures “limited to R13 500 per family per annum”, and others.
Discovery has a small range of cheap hospital plans. They offer fairly good cover and a little different to the normal cheap hospital plan. The KeyCare Series Discovery hospital plan has an income dependant premium. The lower-income client can still have medical cover with this great plan. However, they are strict about which hospitals you can go to. If you are admitted into a hospital outside of the KeyCare network, they will not pay a cent.
Trick to a Cheap Hospital Plan
The trick to hospital plans, whether you are looking for a cheap hospital plan or not, is to make sure you read all the small print. Ask questions if you don’t understand. Ensure to compare the different options so that you feel you are getting what you need.
Complete and submit the form above to request free hospital plan quotes
All info was correct at time of publishing