# Medical aid & temp visa



## Laurajaynecox (Mar 11, 2013)

Hi there,

How easy is it to get medical aid with a temporary visa? Any advice as to what route to take?

Thank you


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## shumifan49 (Sep 18, 2013)

I have not actually done this yet as I will only be moving next year, but I have checked some of the medaid insurance websites and it seems the following applies: If you have not had medical aid in South Africa before, you will be subject to a 3 month wait after you subscribe before you can claim. I suspect you might also need a medical. Furthermore, your premiums will be 150% to 200% the normal premium.
So in your case if you are staying for less than 3 months, it might not be worth the trouble.
Just google medical aid in South Africa and you find several companies. I believe Discovery Health is quite good. Call the company and they will tell you how to subscribe.

Look at this for an indication:
http://www.immigrationsouthafrica.org/blog/medical-aid-south-africa/


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

Laurajaynecox said:


> Hi there,
> 
> How easy is it to get medical aid with a temporary visa? Any advice as to what route to take?
> 
> Thank you


I got medical aid with Discovery when I just arrived on a visitors permit. Have had medical aid for 3 years now on visitors, temporary and permanent permits.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Saartjie is right, most medical aids will take you on board, although their rates may differ.


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## shumifan49 (Sep 18, 2013)

Just some further comment:
The different schemes have a vast range of different cover, so it is not as straight forward as comparing monthly charges; you have to look at what is covered and what the payout limits are. These various options can range from hospital cover(only) to everything all the time with commensurate varying tariffs. Most medical aids will offer the whole range of covers, so the first thing is to decide what you would like to have covered. Read the fine print on the cover documents to make sure you got what you expected.


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## MissGlobal (Aug 4, 2012)

We were able to get offers from multiple schemes - but we ended up going with a US-based company to cover us here. That decision was simply made on cost vs actual benefits.


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