# Medical Aid - Health Insurance



## blacksheep (Dec 29, 2018)

Hi forum members,
who in your opinion is the best medical aid/health insurance provider in SA. We are a family 2 adults/3kids and have requested a quote from Discovery. More than 15 days later, we have nothing from them apart from phone calls asking us whether we would like to start our cover straight away without sending a quote.

We have also been told that our premium will be higher because we were not previously on a SA scheme. Can,t work out the logic of this.

Thanks


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## terryZW (Jun 26, 2017)

blacksheep said:


> Hi forum members,
> who in your opinion is the best medical aid/health insurance provider in SA. We are a family 2 adults/3kids and have requested a quote from Discovery. More than 15 days later, we have nothing from them apart from phone calls asking us whether we would like to start our cover straight away without sending a quote.
> 
> We have also been told that our premium will be higher because we were not previously on a SA scheme. Can,t work out the logic of this.
> ...


Medical aid has nothing to do with how long you have been in SA, the premiums are determined by a fixed scale that puts into consideration what plan you choose, how many people are on it and what income band you fall into.

Discovery is definitely one of the best options for a family because you can also get access to additional discounts and rewards if you join their Vitality program. It's definitely a bit more expensive than some of the other providers but you get what you pay for imo.


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## blacksheep (Dec 29, 2018)

Thanks Terry. We finally did get a quote from Discovery but are liable for a late joining fee which is charged to over 35s, if they have not been part of a SA medical health scheme before. This adds 50% to adults premium. Evidently all SA medical aid providers do this.


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## denushka (Apr 22, 2015)

hi @blacksheep, use a medical aid consultant than discovery direct, they can negotiate better terms if possible as they get rebates & commissions so they will help structure better deal for you rather than discovery direct if you went direct, i did the same as a foreigner and had my premium reduced by R400 when i sat with one and went through everything , i can pm you the 2 x guys i have use din the past, both very reputable and reliable


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## ImigrantBC (Jul 15, 2016)

Try Fedhealth


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## terryZW (Jun 26, 2017)

blacksheep said:


> Thanks Terry. We finally did get a quote from Discovery but are liable for a late joining fee which is charged to over 35s, if they have not been part of a SA medical health scheme before. This adds 50% to adults premium. Evidently all SA medical aid providers do this.


That's an age penalty. Nothing do do with immigration status. I understand now.


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## Movingabouts (Dec 28, 2020)

Did you happen to get anywhere with getting medical cover? I’m having a similar problem and really not sure where to go! All the medical aids seem to have no idea how to handle my quotes.


blacksheep said:


> Thanks Terry. We finally did get a quote from Discovery but are liable for a late joining fee which is charged to over 35s, if they have not been part of a SA medical health scheme before. This adds 50% to adults premium. Evidently all SA medical aid providers do this.


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## ski-guy (Jul 25, 2015)

blacksheep said:


> Hi forum members,
> who in your opinion is the best medical aid/health insurance provider in SA. We are a family 2 adults/3kids and have requested a quote from Discovery. More than 15 days later, we have nothing from them apart from phone calls asking us whether we would like to start our cover straight away without sending a quote.
> 
> We have also been told that our premium will be higher because we were not previously on a SA scheme. Can,t work out the logic of this.
> ...


Yes, there is a penalty added by all the medical insurance companies if you have not been on an SA scheme before - logic is hard to figure out especially when you have come from for example UK or Canada where you would have been covered by the National Health system. I think it is because they figure you a "higher" risk because you may have "uninsured, pre-existing conditions"....I am on Discovery - I would not say its the best but perhaps one of the best. It all depends on whether your employer has a deal with a company. If there is a better company option, then its better to go with the company recommendation, otherwise Discovery is okay.


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

Movingabouts said:


> Did you happen to get anywhere with getting medical cover? I’m having a similar problem and really not sure where to go! All the medical aids seem to have no idea how to handle my quotes.


 Adding a late joiner penalty is standard practice in South Africa. The reasoning is that older people are more likely to get sick that young people. So the older people are more likely to draw from the pot of contributions. So if u start contributing young, you would have put more into the common pot subsidising the older. As you grow older the younger subsidise you. But if u just join older, u will benefit from subsidy by the younger yet you never subsidised the older. So they penalise you for that.


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