Staying fit is only half the story: staying covered matters too

Insurance Biz – 22nd May 2025

Staying healthy is about more than taking the occasional jog or eating a salad. For many young men, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and cutting down on unhealthy habits like smoking or excessive drinking are key parts of maintaining long-term wellbeing. But there’s another side to good health that’s often overlooked: the cost of staying well. When you’re young and healthy, it’s easy to think of gap cover as something you only need later in life when chronic illness or serious diagnoses start showing up. The reality, though, is that accidents can and do happen to anyone – in fact, some things, like sports-related injuries, are more likely to happen to young, healthy and active people. With medical aid co-payments, sub-limits and medical expense shortfalls on the rise, gap cover is a proactive investment in your future health and financial stability.

Preventative care is important

Maintaining your health for your future self means you need to stay one step ahead of potential health issues rather than waiting for symptoms to become serious. Regular check-ups, blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol and glucose tests, and other early screening tools can detect conditions like heart disease and diabetes in their early stages when they’re easier and often less expensive to treat.

Preventative care is a powerful way of taking control of your long-term health – it not only improves outcomes, but it also reduces the risk of major health complications that can disrupt life and lead to substantial medical costs. However, even the most diligent focus on health, wellness and preventative care can’t prevent unexpected medical expenses from cropping up.

You are not bulletproof

Sometimes, even the healthiest bodies betray us, and when they do, it’s not just your health that takes a knock – your bank account does too. Torn ligaments and broken bones are common sports injuries that can be expensive to treat. No matter how fit and healthy you are, you can still get diabetes, and there are many stories of runners having heart attacks during a race, also requiring expensive treatment.

Being fit doesn’t mean you’re protected from genetics or accidents or that you’re immune to medical expense shortfalls that happen when your medical aid doesn’t cover the full cost of treatment. Musculoskeletal injuries are some of the most common and expensive claims that come through gap cover providers, with heart conditions and cancer high on the list as well – healthcare issues that frequently affect even the most active people.

The true cost of healthcare

Gap cover becomes essential when things go wrong – scans, scopes, specialists, and surgeries can and do cost well beyond what medical aid covers. One Turnberry client, an otherwise healthy individual, was diagnosed with stage four cancer at age 40. Over just four years, his claims added up to a staggering R678 000.

Another client, who is 27, has claimed nearly R478 000 for a complex range of conditions, including systemic lupus, spinal complications, nerve pain, and digestive issues. A 36-year-old’s claims of R448 000 have covered treatment for benign tumours in the nasopharynx and pharynx, chronic sinus problems, spinal issues, and epilepsy.

Even a 22-year-old client incurred more than R414 000 in costs linked to spinal problems, skin cancer, and atrial fibrillation. That’s not money most of us have lying around, no matter how well we plan or how strong our core is.

Investing in your financial health alongside your physical wellbeing

Significant medical costs can happen to anyone, no matter how young, fit and healthy you are. And if you’re starting a family or raising young kids, the financial risk multiplies: maternity costs, emergency room visits, unexpected surgeries. Healthy people still get hit with bills they didn’t see coming. Joining gap cover early means you avoid waiting periods and exclusions down the line, and it puts you in a better position to act quickly if something unexpected does crop up. The goal of preventative care is not to treat illness but to stay ahead of it. Sometimes, though, health problems are unavoidable. Gap cover is an essential safety net for when things go wrong. Talking to your broker about including gap cover in your financial portfolio is a strong investment in your health journey.

*Brian Harris, General Manager Operations at Turnberry Management Risk Solutions