Look no further than this page; here is where you get all the background and information about gap cover. Then you can get a gap cover quote by completing and then submitting the form.
Important information about gap cover
The type of gap cover we are discussing here is for members of South African medical aids only. These medical aids include Discovery Health, Selfmed, Bonitas, Bestmed and GEMS. However, there are many more medical schemes (about 80 in South Africa) so check that you are on a registered scheme. Note: health insurance such as you get from Ubuntu or Clientele is NOT medical aid. So find out where you health cover comes from.
The purpose of medical gap cover is to insure medical aid members where co-payments emerge. A co-payment is that portion of your medical bill that you have to pay out of your own pocket. Gap cover allows the insurance company to pay your shortfall amounts, not you. But why do co-payments occur you may ask.
Well, when a medical aid receives hospital / specialist / medication bills from providers, they do not pay the amount that appears on the bill. The medical aid pays only the amount that appears on its internal tariff list e.g. 100% of the tariff, 200% of the tariff and so on, depending on which medical aid plan you are on. That’s why shortfalls occur and that’s why you get stuck with co-payments.
Gap cover to the rescue
There are five major benefits to getting medical gap cover:
- Where there are more than one person on your medical aid such as Bonitas, e.g. spouse, children everyone gets co-payment cover from a single policy.
- There are no waiting periods, except in a limited number of circumstances, e.g. pregnancy.
Gap cover is simple. Unlike medical aid, which is really complicated, you have only a couple of options for gap cover. Your gap insurance broker will let you know the differences. - Claiming against your gap cover policy is easy. Just like signing up you can do it by email and phone.
- Gap cover is inexpensive.
Where does gap cover come from?
There are several brilliant short-term insurance companies in South Africa. (The medical aids themselves do not offer gap cover, except for Discovery Health because it has a short-term insurance arm.)
The top 5 gap cover companies in South Africa
Western gap cover – It’s interesting to discover where Western insurance company originated: in Namibia. Now Western covers all of southern Africa
Zestlife gap cover – Arguably the leading gap cover supplier in South Africa
Turnberrry gap insurance – Also a big player in the industry, named after a famous golfing venue in Scotland
Ambledown gap cover – A leading gap cover specialist
Momentum gap cover – This company is especially active where groups need gap insurance for medical aid
Bestmed – a medical aid worth looking at