Medical aid credit to help poor

Johannesburg - The introduction of a new medical aid contribution credit could make cover more affordable for lower income earners, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) said on Monday.

"We encourage people who do not have medical aid to look at their finances and at the medical contribution credit to see if they can afford cover," Saica project director of financial services Yusuf Dukander said in a statement.

"The medical aid tax credits come at a crucial time in the lives of many South Africans; considering the fact that approximately 84% of South Africans are still living without medical aid cover," Dukander said.

According to Saica, only 3.7 million out of 51.8 million South Africans were main members of a medical aid scheme, with 4.8 million being their dependants.

People who already belonged to medical aid schemes would qualify for the credits.

The tax credits were set at a fixed monthly amount for the taxpayer, and their first dependant.

Two-thirds of that amount would be for additional dependants, Dukander said.

The new tax credit - which was effective for the 2013 financial year - was a positive move until the National Health Insurance (NHI) was fully operational, Dukander said.