Implementation of Affordable Hospital Plans in South Africa

Governments of every nation should draw up a fiscally responsible plan for their healthcare sector. This includes implementing a smart and affordable hospital plan. Medical scheme membership does not come at a low price and thus most consumers often do not have proper awareness about the facilities that are covered by a hospital and what the relatively less expensive hospitals are.

A hospital plan is implemented by a registered medical scheme and is not the same as hospital insurance schemes or cash-back plans. Medical schemes are regulated by the Medical Schemes Act. An affordable hospital plan in South Africa will pay up to a certain limit for the procedures and treatments that a patient receives in a hospital, where as hospital cash-reimbursement plans only pay for the time the patient spends in a hospital. Hospital plans will cover the costs of planned and emergency hospital admissions.

Need for affordable hospital plans                                                                                           

There has been a marked degradation in the public healthcare system that has prompted the need for reliable and affordable hospitals in South Africa. The government healthcare services were once world-class. But with the steeply rising costs of qualified medical personnel,equipment,utilities and consumable drugs, the capacity of the South African government to assimilate sufficient funding forits public healthcare system has depleted. This has resulted in a number of hospital shutdowns and restricting the specialised healthcare systems to primary healthcare. Most of the essential teaching hospitals have also become overburdened. The demand for medical care has continued to surge due to the following factors:

• Rise of HIV-AIDS epidemic
  
• Increase in stress-related disorders
  
• Diabetes
  
• Perennial rise in road accidents
  

The various hospital plans

The primary goal of those responsible for devising and managing hospital plans is to provide the means that would help to ease the burden on patients created by the increasing medical expenses. In order to minimise the burden of medical expenses, the hospital plans created nowadays are more innovative.

The exercise involves a variety of strategies, one of which has been to shift from the traditional offer of blanket cover on a one-size-fits-all basis to the compilation of products that cater to the individual needs of the patients. Another strategy which has proved effective in guarding scheme members against the adverse effects of spiralling medical expenses is the crafting of contracts with service providers.

For those of limited means, the medical aid funds offer in South Africa is also proving to be a beneficial option. This type of cover assumes that the typical day-to-day medical needs are met by the scheme members from out of their personal savings. The cover of hospital plans will kick in only when the patient is admitted to a hospital. For younger healthier members with no kids, this particular plan ensures monetary saving.

Overall, the concept of affordable hospital plans in South Africa is a highly suitable one. It is crucial to compare the scales of benefits before committing to a given plan as these schemes may vary depending on the allocation of funds.

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Created on Jan 15th 2018 07:23. Viewed 305 times.

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