It's a good idea to speak to numerous South African medical aid consultants and health insurance brokers to learn more about the numerous medical aid plans available for families.

Firstly, find out what the cost and medical benefits will be for the primary medical aid member.

Then find out whether the medical aid scheme in question offers the same medical cover and benefits for dependant family members, and whether the cost of membership will decrease for additional members if you're planning to extend your family.

If so, by how much, and what will the impact be on their cover and benefits?

Once you've established that a family medical aid plan will cover your family's major medical expenses such as operations and hospitalisation, also find out how much cover it will provide in terms of day-to-day medical expenses such as prescriptions and consultations.

This will enable you to plan ahead and budget for the normal consultations and medical check-ups.