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3 Shocking Ways Medical Aids Affect Your Financial Health

3 Shocking Ways Medical Aids Affect Your Financial Health
There is a long list of expenses on our budgets every month. And, yet, we still need to, somehow, make sure we’re in good financial health.
One of those expenses is for our medical aid scheme. Your financial health is a measurement of the state of your finances. How your expenses weigh up against your income, what your savings plans are and what your financial future looks like at the current rate you’re going.
If you aren’t looking out for your financial health, you’re only going to stretch yourself thin every month and, eventually, affect your physical health as a result. The answer to an improved financial health isn’t to always cut out all of your expenses, but to rather make sure that the few necessary expenses you do have are worth the money you’re spending on it. 

Now, in South Africa, we have some of the best and cheapest medical aid schemes available to us. Which is great because it eases the weight of that monthly expense. But there are a few ways that medical aid affects our financial health in a good way. 

- You’re saving money when you claim

Forget for a moment that you’re spending money every month on a medical plan. In the end, that amount is peanuts for what you get in return when you're on the best medical aid in South Africa. 

If you were to add up all your doctor’s visits in a year, with the prescribed medication and treatment plans you were given, there’s a good chance that total amount is more than what your medical aid premium fee is. And that would definitely be the case if you had to find yourself in hospital at any stage of the year.
When you go for a medical procedure or appointment, you’re saving that money when you claim. And if we take a look at our monthly finances throughout the year, there are good months and bad months. Now, you might reckon that the amount of money you’re paying for your medical aid is too much compared to what you’ve claimed. But can you imagine having to cover the cost of your medical activities during the months of January, December and whenever the family members’ birthdays are? 

You cannot choose when you fall ill or when the best time would be to break your leg. Accidents happen and you aren’t always in the best financial health to cope with those issues when they occur. That’s why paying for medical aid is worth every cent and helps you to save money and stick to your budget and savings plans even when something unexpected and health-related happens.
And if you still feel like you aren’t making a large enough return on investment in terms of medical aid claims to your premiums, you can consider changing your medical aid plan. There are different types of medical aid that cater to different medical needs for this reason. If you’re an, otherwise, healthy person, you might only need a medical plan which will cost you less every month and still cover you for what you need.

- Chances of medical debt are reduced

At the end of the day, even by paying for medical aid in South Africa, you’re still saving money. The chances of you falling into debt as a result of medical bills are radically reduced when you’re on a medical aid plan. 

People underestimate the cost of medical procedures and usually only come to terms with the reality of it all after they’ve undergone all the scans and tests prescribed by the doctor. If you’ve worked your budget correctly, you should have a savings fund that’s there for emergencies. But, sometimes, that isn’t always enough to cover it and you find yourself in a negative financial health status.
You have access to the best, cheapest medical aid in South Africa at an affordable monthly fee. Rather work that expense into your budget than find yourself in a situation where you have to blow your savings and start that process all over again (only once you’ve paid off all the medical debt of course, which could, otherwise, be claimed and covered by your medical aid).

- Peace of mind

And the third way medical aid affects your financial health is by giving you peace of mind. With a medical aid plan for you and your family (who need you to have medical aid before they can be covered as well), you won’t have any reason to stress unnecessarily about health and finances. 

It’s no secret that stress can easily lead to illness and financial stress especially is also a root cause of divorce between couples. When you have medical aid, you give yourself peace of mind that, should anything happen health-wise, you won’t need to break your bank or realign your budget to try and pay for the damage. This means you won’t need to stress about your financial health in that regard and cause yourself to fall ill as a result. You and your finances will be healthier for it.

Editor's remark

This is a guest post submitted by one of our readers. You too can submit yours!
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