Has the NHI debate reached a turning point?
Discovery believes the legal challenges have shifted government’s thinking on NHI and created an opportunity to pursue a more workable path to universal health coverage.
#medicalschemes
Bonitas defends administrator switch after record financial results
Executives acknowledged the disruption caused by the June administrator switch while insisting the scheme’s long-term strategy remains on track.
When it’s your money, who should decide?
As employers hand more responsibility for retirement and healthcare benefits to staff, the industry is rethinking how to balance freedom with better financial decisions.
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.
The next frontier for employee benefits is integration
Sanlam’s Benchmark report argues that improving member outcomes increasingly depends on linking financial advice, healthcare, and risk benefits.
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.
Seven years of growth: What Bestmed’s numbers say about its sustainability
Membership, claims, reserves, and solvency all point to a strong year, but they also reveal the long-term pressures facing the scheme.
Discovery financially stronger, but beneficiary base shrinks again
DHMS improved its solvency, surplus and principal membership, but an ageing risk pool, fewer beneficiaries, and a claims-system error tempered the year’s progress.
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.
Mental health is reshaping the chronic disease equation
New findings suggest emotional well-being now plays a growing role in whether patients with diabetes, cancer, and heart disease stay stable and out of hospital.
What better healthcare could look like in South Africa
Discovery’s data shows how prevention, screening, and co-ordinated care can extend lives – while raising difficult questions about how to replicate those gains more widely.
