Oxygen medical aid for South Africa residents is a scheme by the reliable Old Mutual company. This plan offers you the ability to combine cover with a medical savings account. That you can use if you exhaust your benefit. It is a good scheme for bigger families. Because it offers good value for money considering a premium is only payable for a single child in the family. In addition depending on when a client signs up for cover they calculate medical benefits on a pro-rata scale.
For clients looking at joining Oxygen medical aid cover in South Africa there are basically four main package options.
- Core plus cover
- Standard cover
- Standard plus
- Elite plus package
Each with their own benefits and cover.
So just to name but a few of the benefits of each.
The core plus offers hospital and related bills at three times NRPL rate with no annual limit. And includes cover for chronic medications and emergency evacuations to hospital.
The standard package offers the same benefits as the core plus. But with the addition of day to day claims. Such as consultations at a doctor and medicines. Which are paid for from specified benefits with an additional savings account.
The standard plus package is similar to the standard option. Whereas the elite plus option has an extended chronic medication benefit covering a lot more conditions.
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Oxygen Medical Aid (Old Mutual) Additional Benefits
Additional benefits on all the packages include wellness benefits. Which can cover a patient for baby immunizations, flu vaccines or HIV exposures just to name a few.
Rewards plus can offer a member extra benefits. Such as discounts on Virgin Active gym membership fees or British Airways flights.
Special Benefits of Oxygen Medical Aid Schemes
The special benefits of Oxygen Medical plans are now available under the Medshield Medical Aid. Because in October 2010 Medshield incorporated Oxygen Medical Aid.
This has lead to Medshield now holding the title of the fourth largest medical aid scheme in South Africa. With just over half a million clients to its name.
This means that not only do you get the benefits that Oxygen has to offer its members, but you also get to enjoy peace of mind. That is associated with a company that has a large footprint in South Africa.
This peace of mind goes further by the fact that Medshield has a global credit rating of AA. Which means that they have a healthy solvency ratio. So there is assurance that you will never have a claim that they do not pay.
In addition because of this merger the special benefits of Oxygen Medical schemes have been consolidated with the benefits that Medshield has to offer.
This means that you are getting better benefits than you would have without the assimilation by Medshield. Some of these benefits include:
- One day turn around period on all claims
- A guaranteed 14 second call answer response
- Value added benefits. Such as hospital management, aids for Aids, and a chronic medicine management
- The access to emergency medical services 24 hours a day. Which includes medical emergency medical guidance
- Programs designed specifically around the needs of your chronic diseases
Now you may be wondering what types of plans Oxygen or Medshield has that you could obtain in order to qualify for these benefits.
They have three key plans available, each targeted at different groups of people.
These three plans are:
- Core Plus
- Essential Cover
- Standard Cover
Core Plus
This plan is for young, healthy, active people. Who want to be covered against all major medical expenses as well as unlimited hospitalization.
In addition to this, this plan covers chronic medication too. This is their premium price offering. Which means that you get all of the above mentioned benefits, plus cover should anything go wrong.
Essential Cover
The Essential plan is for low income earners. And as a result your contributions will be capped according to how much you earn.
What is more is that you will receive a savings account. Which you manage yourself to deal with any day to day expenses that you may be faced with.
Standard Cover
This is the medium cover by Oxygen medical aid and includes cover for all major medical expenses and general in hospitalization benefits.
However this cover is limited in terms of the chronic medicine which it covers. Although they do offer a savings account which you can use for day to day expenses that you may incur.
Should you for any reason not need chronic cover, you can additionally opt out of cover in this regard with any of the above mentioned plans.
This means that there is a no waste policy which is beneficial to members. Although Oxygen has been incorporated in to the Medshield scheme, it does not mean that it has lost its guidance from the brand which started it – Old Mutual.
To Summarize
In summary there are many choices of cover for individual families on offer by the Oxygen medical aid scheme in South Africa. Therefore it really boils down to the individuals or a families specific hospital, doctor and medical needs.
This is a trusted brand in South Africa. So people need to realize that just because it falls under a different name it does not mean that it no longer has the backing of a 150 year old, well established company. That realizes the importance of excellent service.
Old Mutual began this medical scheme with the intention of delivering a quality product. That fits in with peoples lifestyles and they continue to deliver on this even if the Oxygen medical aid plans have been taken under the wings of Medshield.