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South Africans shirk medical insurance

The figures are staggering. About 84% of South Africans have no medical aid, which suggests that most families are using already overburdened public health-care facilities. A National Health Insurance Scheme is still being considered but, in the meantime, the vast majority of citizens are struggling.

29 Jun 2011

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Lower- and middle-income earners either do not belong to a medical aid or have reduced their cover. But even some cover is better than none - a hospital plan, for example, for serious medical emergencies.

Yusuf Dukander, project director of financial services at The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), says that proposed new tax credits should bring medical cover within the reach of low- to middle-tier earners and these earners should make every effort to take out cover. Read on.