5. Luxembourg

The OECD country has one of the highest expenditures on health care, comprising of 7.8 percent of the country’s GDP. The country needs to offset some unhealthy lifestyle choices if it wants its citizens to spend less time in hospital; Luxembourg has the highest annual rate of alcohol consumption with 15,5 litres per capita. Despite that, the life expectancy is 80.7 years.

4. Netherlands

The average person in the Netherlands spends US$4,914 on health care every year, equivalent to 12 percent of the country’s GDP. The expenses increased by 16 percent between 2008 and 2009. Despite how much is spent on health care, the average citizen only spends about $227 dollars out-of-pocket on health care.

3. Switzerland

The total spent on health care in Switzerland is equivalent to 11.6 percent of the GDP. The average Swiss spends a massive US$5,344 every year on health and medication, which is great for all the private hospitals. The country has one of the most privatized health care systems in the world.

2. Norway

Despite having the second-most nationalized health care system, Norwegians still spend more than $800 per person per year on health care. The country’s health care expenses equal about 9.6 percent of the GDP. More than 80 percent of Norway’s population gets their medical bills covered by the public sector.

1. United States

No surprises here. The United States spends the most on health care with total expenditure at $7,960 per capita, equal to about 17.4 percent of the GDP. The United States spends a large amount on pharmaceuticals and medical non-durables, which adds to the expense. Despite all this, it has the 8^th lowest life-expectancy of the OECD at 78,2 years.

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As hospital plans do not cover day to day illnesses or medical conditions, these are excluded from the comparison. (That is, hospital plans do not include over the counter medication and visits to a GP, but only hospitalization and surgical procedures as well as medication for chronic illnesses.) While medical schemes offer different products, they feature similar benefits.

 Hospital plan in-hospital benefits

When comparing hospital plans, check the hospital procedures covered on the plan. Hospital plans don’t include elective procedures, but check which procedures your medical aid considers elective. Certain procedures are also not fully covered, that is, the insured will have to make co-payments for these. Other procedures are only covered to a certain amount, such as cochlea implants, transplants and prostheses. Some hospital plans have an annual limit as well, which restricts the number of procedures allowed per year (in terms of finances).

Under the in hospital benefits, your medical scheme will also list the hospital networks and clinics you are to have procedures at. (This includes mental health and drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities.)

Hospital plan chronic medication benefits

All medical aids are required to cover Prescribed Minimum Benefits, that is a list of procedures for which they must cater. Hospital plans have 27 PMB chronic disease conditions, which are required to be covered. These include Addison’s disease, asthma, bipolar mood disorder, bronchiectasis, diabetes, epilepsy, hypertension, schizophrenia and others. Hospital plans will include medication for these conditions.

 Hospital plan contributions

Yes, yes, the extent of the hospital plan is more important than the cost, unless of course you’re healthy. Medical schemes have different rates for different individuals to make it more appealing for whole families to join one plan. Principal members pay a certain amount and dependents usually pay a smaller price. (Spouses pay less than principal members and children are less than them.)

Get a quote for hospital plans before they become nationalized. Fill in our form for health insurance and wait for an insurance representative to contact you.

Types of health insurance

Because not every hospital stars Hugh Laurie, you need health insurance. Health insurance covers you for medical emergencies, planned (non-elective) medical procedures and outpatient health care such as doctor’s consults, as well as medication for and treatment of chronic diseases in private health care establishments.

As health insurance covers medical expenses for hospitalization of physical and mental illness, it’s one of the most important types of insurance you can get for yourself and your family. When deciding upon a health care insurer, you should consider more than just the cost of the premiums, but the extent of the cover and their list of approved doctors and hospitals. Depending on your needs, you can choose between two types of health insurance:

Hospital plans

The most basic form of health insurance, hospital plans cover only medical procedures conducted at a hospital. This includes emergencies and admissions through casualty, and often (depending on the type of hospital plan) ambulance and emergency transport to the hospital. This type of insurance is best suited for young individuals without chronic disease as it does not cover doctors consultations, medication or outpatient care.

Medical aid schemes

While not a generic form of health care, medical aid schemes usually include outpatient care, such as doctors’ consultations and often medication. While this is different for each medical aid and each scheme within that medical aid, medical aid schemes are more comprehensive than hospital plans, and usually include dentistry and optometry as well. Chronic disease treatment, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are catered for under a medical aid scheme and not hospital plan. This is recommended for older individuals and families as dependents can often be included on a medical aid scheme.

Given the importance of health insurance, you should get it from a respected and established medical aid. For this reason we have partnered with the best health insurance providers in the country. We’ll get them to contact you. Just fill in our online form and wait for the call.