Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) will increase contributions by between 7.4% and 8.9% from 1 January 2027, with a weighted average increase of 8.2%.
The increase follows a 7.2% weighted average increase in 2026 and 9.3% in 2025, putting the 2027 adjustment between the two. The 2026 increase was deferred until April, while members on Active Smart had no increase that year.
Discovery says two out of every three beneficiaries will face an increase of less than 8% in 2027. The lowest increase, at 7.4%, applies to Active Smart, while most Smart, Smart Saver, Saver, and Core plans will increase by 7.9%. The highest increase of 8.9% applies to KeyCare, Priority, Comprehensive, Executive, and Coastal Core.
DHMS is South Africa’s largest open medical scheme. At the end of 2025, it had 1.33 million principal members and 2.73 million beneficiaries. The scheme says six out of every 10 open medical scheme members belong to DHMS.
In 2025, the scheme funded R90 billion in healthcare claims, with 64 million individual claims processed.
What members will pay in 2027
The increase varies by plan. The table below compares the total monthly contribution for a main member in 2026 and 2027. The 2026 figures apply from 1 April to 31 December 2026, while the 2027 figures take effect from 1 January 2027.
The calculations in the table reconcile with Discovery’s published percentage increases.
KeyCare remains income-banded. In 2027, main-member contributions start at R1 392 for KeyCare Start Regional, R1 564 for KeyCare Start, R1 623 for KeyCare Core, and R2 136 for KeyCare Plus. The highest income-band contributions range from R3 099 for KeyCare Core to R4 336 for KeyCare Plus.
Click here to view the detailed 2027 contribution table for all DHMS plans.
Active Core adds a new lower-cost option
The most significant product change for 2027 is the introduction of Active Core, which will launch on 1 January, subject to approval by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS).
Contributions start at R1 700 for a principal member, R1 550 for an adult dependant, and R500 for a child dependant. A family of three will pay R3 750 a month. Discovery says this is at least 26% below the average contribution of the seven closest comparable plans.
The R500 child dependant contribution is also described by Discovery as the lowest in the open medical scheme market.
Active Core provides unlimited hospital cover through the new Active Hospital Network, which Discovery says includes more than 40 hospitals across South Africa. Members will also have access to up to R8 000 in day-to-day benefits through the Personal Health Fund, as well as maternity and mental health benefits.
Active Core is the latest in a sequence of lower-cost offerings aimed at younger members and families. Active Smart was introduced in 2025, followed by Essential Smart Saver in 2026. Discovery says the two plans have attracted more than 80 000 lives.
The scheme says more than one million South Africans in this younger, healthier market segment continue to face barriers to medical scheme cover. Over six years, membership in the segment has declined by 8%, while the average number of lives covered per membership has fallen by 15%.
Active Smart itself will increase by 7.4% to R1 450 per member a month in 2027. The 2027 contribution table applies the same R1 450 contribution to the principal member, adult dependant, and child dependant.
Personal Health Pathways gets an AI-driven expansion
Discovery is also expanding Personal Health Pathways in 2027.
More than 750 000 adult members receive personalised health guidance through the platform, according to Discovery. Members have completed more than 12 million personalised health actions and unlocked more than R1bn in additional healthcare benefits through the Personal Health Fund.
From 1 January, the platform will bring together clinical history, claims information, screening results and lifestyle data through Personal Health Insights.
Discovery says the enhanced platform will be powered by Vitality AI and its global partnership with Google, expanding its offering to more than 8 000 clinically validated health actions and more than 41 000 personalised “next best actions”.
The Personal Health Fund remains a feature across the plan range, although the amount available differs by plan. In 2027, the additional value available for engaging with Personal Health Pathways ranges from up to R500 per adult and R250 per child on KeyCare, to up to R3 000 per adult and R1 500 per child on the Comprehensive plans.
The numbers behind the increase
Discovery attributes the increase to rising healthcare costs, utilisation, new treatments, and technology, as well as an ageing population and the growing prevalence of chronic disease.
The scheme says its interventions to manage healthcare costs include provider and utilisation management, reducing fraud, waste and inefficiency, and supporting healthier behaviour.
In 2025, Discovery Health and the scheme’s managed-care initiatives saved members R12.4bn that would otherwise have been paid out of pocket, according to the scheme. Discovery says these measures helped contain the 2027 weighted average increase to 8.2%.
Discovery’s 2027 announcement also says its weighted average contribution increases have been 5.1 percentage points lower than those of the next six largest open medical schemes over the past three years. That is Discovery’s comparison of its own contribution increases with those of its competitors, rather than an independent industry assessment.
Dr Ron Whelan, chief executive of Discovery Health, says the challenge is to balance affordability with the long-term sustainability of healthcare funding.
“Our responsibility is not simply to pass rising healthcare costs on to members. Instead, we focus on removing as much cost and inefficiency from the healthcare system as possible before it reaches members’ monthly contributions.”
The 2027 contribution increases, Active Core launch, and benefit changes remain subject to approval by the CMS.
