Complaints against medical schemes rise by 24.6%
The CMS’s 2025/26 annual report also highlights progress on a costed primary healthcare benefits package and research into linking administrator fees to outcomes.
#CouncilforMedicalSchemes
Medihelp sets 7.5% weighted average increase for 2027
Most members will face increases of 7% or less, while the scheme is adding benefits in mental health, maternity, preventive care, and emergency treatment.
Momentum Medical Scheme to raise contributions by 7.9%
The scheme is pairing the increase with changes to Health4Me and a broader push into prevention, wellness, and digital healthcare.
Bestmed sets 2027 contributions to increase by 7.35%
The scheme is adding a R1 000 healthcare benefit, expanding preventative care, and making targeted changes to medicine, casualty, and clinical cover.
BHF: CMS’s contribution guidance could create unrealistic expectations
The industry body says the 3.8% benchmark does not fully reflect the utilisation and underlying healthcare-cost pressures that schemes face.
Global medical cost growth is cooling. Why isn’t South Africa’s?
Global medical cost growth is easing, but South Africa’s rate remains high – putting medical schemes under pressure to balance rising healthcare costs with affordability in 2027.
GEMS faces scrutiny over costs, governance, and reserves
Parliamentary questions extend from fraud and outsourcing to trustee remuneration and benefit design, while the scheme’s reserves remain below the statutory requirement.
GEMS suspension puts governance under scrutiny
DENOSA says the lack of disclosure over Stan Moloabi’s suspension raises wider questions about the scheme’s leadership, accountability, and handling of member concerns.
CMS sets end-August target for Bonitas procurement investigation
The regulator has clarified the scope of its oversight of Bonitas, confirming that two separate regulatory processes are under way.
Bonitas, Medscheme clash over scope of CMS investigation
Medscheme says the CMS has broadened its investigation into Bonitas’s procurement processes, but Bonitas disputes that interpretation.
GEMS targets future contribution relief after CMS setback
The scheme says R1.7 billion in projected savings could moderate future increases as it prepares for robust talks with organised labour.
CMS explains why it rejected GEMS’s bid to lower contribution increase
The CMS argues that a 7.5% increase would have weakened GEMS’s financial sustainability and shifted costs to members in future.
CMS reviewing Bonitas complaints, says recovery plan appears to be bearing fruit
The regulator says it is monitoring the situation and sees signs of improvement, but some members continue to report difficulties accessing healthcare and resolving claims.
CMS rejects GEMS bid to cut 2026 contribution increase as unions demand answers
The regulator has rejected the scheme’s proposal to reduce its weighted average contribution adjustment to 7.5%, leaving the existing 9.5% increase in place.
Was it really just Covid?
A review of five years of Medihelp’s annual reports traces the events behind the scheme’s fall below and its rise back above the statutory minimum.
Medihelp’s turnaround: How the scheme rebuilt its business before its balance sheet
Twelve months after reporting a solvency ratio of just 20.99%, Medihelp returned above the statutory threshold while almost nine-folding its operating surplus.
High Court upholds medical schemes’ recovery powers
The ruling preserves a key anti-fraud tool that industry bodies say protects member funds and helps contain healthcare costs.
