Choosing a medical scheme is an important task that should not be taken lightly. After all, it’s usually a long-term commitment and can have an effect on your family’s finances.
Currently, there are over 70 schemes to choose from in South Africa. Accordingly, KeyHealth is one of the schemes that has seen an increase in beneficiaries from 2020 to now. This means that more individuals have become members in the past year, proving that our packages are among the more popular, comprehensive and affordable choices today.
If you would like to apply for affordable medical aid, sign up here.
What You Need to Apply Online
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not extremely difficult to get affordable medical aid. You just need to know where to look and what to do to get an accurate quote from the start. By being transparent about your health and finances, a scheme can provide you with the best plan available for you. Here’s what you need to get started:
- Identification documents for all dependants and yourself
- Up-to-date contact information for all those involved
- Any past medical aid membership information
- Disclosure of all pre-existing health issues
- A verified bank statement for the account against which debit orders will be registered
After submitting your details online, a representative from the chosen scheme will contact you to get started. If any late joiner penalties or waiting periods should be enforced, you’ll be informed after your health records have been assessed. However, you will not necessarily go through an underwriting process upon application if the state of your health is clear and uncomplicated.
When all this has been done, and your application form has been accepted, you’ll become a full-fledged member, and again will receive a notification thereof.
Know What You’re Paying for – Learn the Language
To truly decide if medical aid is affordable enough to join, you need to first understand a few industry-related terms. This will help you in deciphering the difficult-to-comprehend details of packages that schemes offer. Only then will you be able to compare options and pick the right one for you and your loved ones.
These special jargon terms include, but are not limited to the following:
- Dependants – Those who receive financial aid from you and can also benefit from your health plan
- Prescribed Minimum Benefits – Also known as PMBs, and form part of all legal medical aids
- Late Joiner Penalty – A more expensive monthly premium due to joining only once you are at high risk of needing costly healthcare.
- Chronic Disease List – Otherwise written as CDL and refers to a variety of chronic ailments that the scheme covers.
- Co-payment – Part of the fees that a member is accountable for and must be paid directly to the healthcare practitioner used.
- Emergency – Unforeseen medical conditions that require immediate attention.
It’s vital to study the jargon used in schemes to avoid being caught off-guard by representatives who may be trying to hide or disguise information from potential members. Since KeyHealth strives to be transparent and clear about our industry and business, we offer you a comprehensive list of industry-related terms and definitions on our glossary page.
Where to Apply? At a Scheme with Your Best Interests at Heart
To decide on a health insurance provider, you have to look into a few points before assessing their medical aid options on offer and checking that they’re affordable.
Start by making sure their solvency ratio is above 25% as required by law. This will ensure that they have enough money to cover claims in the case that something happens.
Another point to look at is what others say about them. Are their reviews and ratings good, bad or average? It can help to read what issues previous members had and how the scheme dealt with them. The reason this is necessary is to make sure you’ll be able to get problems solved quickly and efficiently, should any arise, and that you won’t struggle to get a hold of the representatives after joining.
Lastly, you can go through the packages that they offer, see if they’re affordable and call for advice. in this way, you get to hear if their sales representatives are open and honest about their services, and whether they’re trying to make you apply for an option that is suited to your needs or simply because it’s the most costly.
The Earlier You Apply, the Better
Don’t wait to join a reliable, established medical aid. Enquire about KeyHealth’s affordable medical aid options now, and apply for membership at a scheme you trust.
