Introduction to Medical Aid Schemes, Companies, and Plans in South Africa

Managing medical expenses like hospital stays, visits to the doctor's room, emergency surgeries, and chronic medication becomes increasingly challenging, especially for families or individuals with pre-existing conditions that demand long-term care. This is where medical aid schemes come into play, providing an effective way to counter these substantial healthcare costs.

A cost-effective medical aid plan within a medical aid scheme offers just the right coverage to cater to your medical needs without overstretching your budget. The goal is to locate a medical aid scheme that provides the best value for money through its various medical aid plans. With nearly 50 open market medical aid companies offering various medical aid schemes in South Africa, selecting the appropriate plan can seem like a formidable task.

But that's where Hippo steps in! Hippo allows you to compare a broad range of medical aid plans from the best medical aid companies offering various medical aid schemes in South Africa. All this can be done online and in real time, making the process easier and more efficient for you.


BestMed Logo

BestMed

Bestmed provides Medical Aid for approximately 196,000 lives and offers a choice of 13 plan options. Premiums for a single member range from R1,626 to R7,983 and Pace1 is the most popular option. Bestmed uses a network of hospitals, which helps reduce premiums and offers preventative-care benefits on all plan options.

Read more about Bestmed

Bonitas

Bonitas is one of South Africa's top five largest open medical schemes and provides cover for approximately 710,000 lives. It offers a choice of 13 medical aid plan options, with Standard, the most popular option, providing maternity and preventative-care benefits. Premiums for a single member range from R1,159 to R7,207.

Read more about Bonitas
Bonitas logo
Discovery logo

Discovery

Discovery is South Africa's largest medical scheme and provides cover for approximately 2.8 million lives. It offers a choice of 23 Medical Aid options. Premiums for a single member range from R968 to R7,688 and the Classic Saver is the most popular option. All options offer maternity and preventative-care benefits.

Read more about Discovery

Fedhealth

Fedhealth provides affordable Medical Aid cover for approximately 144,000 lives and offers a choice of 15 plans. Premiums for a single member range from R1,023 to R9,470 and the flexiFED 4 plan is the most popular option. flexiFED plans offer hospitalisation benefits, with very limited savings available for day-to-day claims, but all options offer some preventative-care benefits.

Read more about Fedhealth
Fedhealth logo

KeyHealth

KeyHealth provides cover for approximately 69,000 lives and offers a choice of 6 plan options. Premiums for a single member range from R1,554 to R8,761, with Gold being the most popular plan option. Preventative-care benefits and a maternity programme are offered through a Health Booster add-on on all options.

Read more about KeyHealth
KeyHealth logo
Medihelp logo

Medihelp

Medihelp is one of the five largest medical schemes in South Africa and provides cover for approximately 200,000 people. It offers a choice of 10 options and premiums for a single member range from R597 (students) to R9,180. Prime 3 is the most popular option. All options offer maternity benefits and preventative-care benefits.

Read more about Medihelp

Medshield

Medshield offers 10 different plan options and covers approximately 165,000 lives. Premiums for a single member range from R1,416 to R5,943. MediPlus, which includes a defined benefit pool for dentistry as well as optometry, is the most popular option.

Read more about Medshield
Medshield logo
Momentum logo

Momentum

Momentum provides cover for approximately 300,000 lives and is one of the five largest open South African medical schemes. It has 23 options to choose from, with premiums for a single member ranging from R439 to R10,187. The Health Platform Benefit offers a good maternity programme and preventative care benefits.

Read more about Momentum

Profmed

Profmed is a closed medical scheme designed exclusively for graduate professionals in South Africa. It offers a choice of 10 plan options and provides cover for approximately 70,000 lives. Premiums for a single member range from R690 to R8,178. Options include using a hospital of your choice or more affordable plans that use a network of hospitals.

Read more about Profmed
Profmed logo

There are a lot of Medical Aid Schemes to choose from in South Africa. Each Medical Aid company has a different offering and cost. With all these choices, it is possible to find a great deal where you save money and benefit from great coverage. The only problem is making those decisions takes time and effort, but not when you Hippo it. Use our super-easy Medical Aid comparison tool to find the best Medical Aid deal to suit your needs.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or medical advice.