
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.

Parliamentary questions extend from fraud and outsourcing to trustee remuneration and benefit design, while the scheme’s reserves remain below the statutory requirement.

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.

Operational improvements have reduced the disruption, but short-paid and unpaid claims, tariff discrepancies, and difficult authorisations continue to require attention.

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.

Executives acknowledged the disruption caused by the June administrator switch while insisting the scheme’s long-term strategy remains on track.

As employers hand more responsibility for retirement and healthcare benefits to staff, the industry is rethinking how to balance freedom with better financial decisions.

The regulator has clarified the scope of its oversight of Bonitas, confirming that two separate regulatory processes are under way.

Medscheme says the CMS has broadened its investigation into Bonitas’s procurement processes, but Bonitas disputes that interpretation.

The scheme says R1.7 billion in projected savings could moderate future increases as it prepares for robust talks with organised labour.

The CMS argues that a 7.5% increase would have weakened GEMS’s financial sustainability and shifted costs to members in future.

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.

Sanlam’s Benchmark report argues that improving member outcomes increasingly depends on linking financial advice, healthcare, and risk benefits.

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.

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.

Twelve months after reporting a solvency ratio of just 20.99%, Medihelp returned above the statutory threshold while almost nine-folding its operating surplus.

Membership, claims, reserves, and solvency all point to a strong year, but they also reveal the long-term pressures facing the scheme.

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.