Remote Benefits:
South Africa: Local Healthcare Plans
Remote builds belonging for your global team with comprehensive local plans at competitive rates.
Local healthcare plans
Customers in South Africa have the option to extend one of the following local healthcare plans to their employees. These plans, all provided by Discovery, offer a range of choices. The primary distinction among these options pertains to their Day-to-Day coverage. Employees can utilize the allocated funds in their Medical Savings Accounts (MSA) for most outpatient treatments. However, when their MSA funds are depleted, they would require an extended benefit to maintain access to Day-to-Day coverage. In contrast of the Saver plan, the Priority one offers a limited extension , whereas the Comprehensive plan offers an unlimited extension of their Day-to-Day coverage, once they have reached their MSA's annual threshold.
The rates provided here represent the dollar value of the monthly premiums for the current plan year and may be subject to fluctuations in conversion rates. Pricing and benefits are subject to change in response to business and market changes and we will update you when those changes take place. You can email support@remote.com with any questions!
Saver: $228 USD/mo
Priority: $288 USD/mo
Comprehensive: $458 USD/mo
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Saver plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day Cover: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. The Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network.
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Priority plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day Cover: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. The Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network. You have a limited Above Threshold Benefit that gives you further day-to-day cover once you have reached your Annual Threshold.
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Comprehensive plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. Depending on your plan type, the Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network. You have an unlimited ATB that gives you further day-to-day cover once you have reached your Annual Threshold. On Classic Smart Comprehensive you have cover for a set of defined day-to-day benefits as well as the Above Threshold Benefit (ATB).
Saver: $228 USD/mo
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Saver plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day Cover: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. The Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network.
Priority: $288 USD/mo
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Priority plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day Cover: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. The Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network. You have a limited Above Threshold Benefit that gives you further day-to-day cover once you have reached your Annual Threshold.
Comprehensive: $458 USD/mo
Unlimited cover for hospital admissions: There is no overall limit for hospital cover on the Comprehensive plan.
Connected Care: You have access to remote care at home, including a Home Monitoring Device Benefit for essential home monitoring, home-based hospital-related care and follow-up treatment after an admission and access to Hospital at Home programme for quality care in the comfort of your own home.
Full cover for chronic medicine: Full cover for chronic medicine on our formulary for all Chronic Disease List (CDL) conditions when you use MedXpress or a MedXpress Network Pharmacy.
Screening and prevention: Screening and prevention benefits that cover vital tests to detect early warning signs of serious illness.
Full cover in hospital for related accounts: Guaranteed full cover in hospital for specialists who we have a payment arrangement with, up to 200% of the Discovery Health Rate (DHR) on Classic plans, and up to 100% of the DHR on Essential and Coastal plans for other healthcare professionals.
Extensive cover for pregnancy: You get comprehensive benefits for maternity and early childhood that cover certain healthcare services before and after birth.
WELLTH Fund: The WELLTH Fund covers a comprehensive list of additional screening and prevention healthcare services according to your individual health needs.
Cover when travelling: Cover for medical emergencies when travelling.
Day-to-day: We pay your day-to-day medical expenses from the available funds allocated to your Medical Savings Account (MSA). This empowers you to manage your spend. Depending on your plan type, the Day-to-day Extender Benefit (DEB) extends your day-to-day cover for essential healthcare services in our network. You have an unlimited ATB that gives you further day-to-day cover once you have reached your Annual Threshold. On Classic Smart Comprehensive you have cover for a set of defined day-to-day benefits as well as the Above Threshold Benefit (ATB).
Remote's Benefits Practices
Remote supports our clients by offering competitive benefits packages that will help you attract and retain the best talent in South Africa! Our benefits specialists have done the research on norms and requirements in each local market and have crafted packages that will allow your employees to thrive, no matter what country they live in.
Our core benefits (which often include things like healthcare) are required in most countries where we hire. We do not require customers to offer health benefits in South Africa due to its public system and local laws that protect us (and you!) against claims of discriminatory hiring practices. However, we do recommend that employers in South Africa offer benefits to their employees, which allows them to access a wider range of options for providers and specialists as well as significantly shorter wait times. We do not add a markup on any benefits premiums or administration costs.
If you would like more insight into fair equity and benefits best practices, you can download our Global Benefits Guide here!
- Healthcare in South Africa: The South African healthcare system consists of subsidized public sector care and a smaller private sector (serving about 20% of the population). The best specialists can usually be found in the private sector and it is typical for professionals to obtain private health insurance.
- You will see benefits options for South Africa when onboarding your employee. From there, the employee will be enrolled and contacted with more information about their plan. Remote takes care of all the administration work so you can focus on scaling your global team!
TCE in South Africa
If you’re ready to hire a new employee in South Africa, you may have generated or received a Total Cost of Employment quote to get an estimate of what it might cost. If you haven’t, you can do so with our handy Cost Calculator tool now!
Employers hiring in South Africa must pay for social contributions mandated by the government. These costs are automatically applied during payroll:
- Skills Development Levy
- Unemployment Insurance Fund
The exact cost of the contributions listed above can be found by using the Cost Calculator.
- For more information about hiring employees in South Africa, see our country hiring guide at https://remote.com/country-explorer/south-africa.
Learn more about Remote benefits
How do benefits work when hiring through an EOR?
Watch this quick explainer video to understand how offering benefits works when you hire team members through an employer of record like Remote.