Deadline for medical aid members in South Africa
South African medical aid members have been warned not to miss their schemes’ deadlines to change benefit options for 2027, with the earliest cut-off date on Saturday, 31 October.
Hagop Jaghlassian, CEO of Curemed Health and Wealth Consultants, said members should not assume they have until the end of December to make changes, as each medical scheme sets its own administrative deadline.
The dates vary significantly by scheme, and missing the deadline could leave members on their existing benefit option for another year.
“Each scheme sets its own administrative cut-off for changing benefit options. That cut-off is separate from 1 January, which is only the date a new option takes effect, and schemes apply it strictly,” Curemed said.
Bonitas has the earliest deadline for members paid through the Public Service Salary System (Persal), who must submit their change-of-option forms by 31 October 2026.
Other Bonitas members have until 30 November.
Fedhealth and Momentum Health also require their 2027 option selection forms to reach the schemes by 30 November.
Medihelp members paid through Persal face the same deadline, while other Medihelp members have until 15 December.
Profmed’s deadline is 15 December, while KeyHealth’s standing option-change form requires submissions before 15 December.
Bestmed requires forms before 31 December, and Medshield’s scheme closing date is also 31 December.
However, Curemed has set an earlier client deadline of 15 December for both Bestmed and Medshield, which Jaghlassian said allows clients time to check the paperwork and submit it before the schemes close.
Discovery Health Medical Scheme had not published a verifiable deadline for 2027 as of 28 October.
However, Jaghlassian noted that Curemed is working towards a 15 December deadline for its Discovery clients.
The consultancy cautioned that members should not rely on deadlines from previous years or other schemes, as the dates can differ by up to two months.
Compare before you make a decision
Members should also act when their schemes announce their new benefits rather than waiting until December.
The Council for Medical Schemes offered similar advice in its open-season guidance for 2026, encouraging members to finalise decisions by late November or early December.
The warning comes as medical schemes have announced their contribution increases for 2027, giving members another reason to review their cover before the deadlines.
Fedhealth announced its increases on 15 September, with increases of 8% on myFED and 8.4% on flexiFED Savvy.
It said 60% of members would face an average weighted increase of 8.9%, while increases on some other options reach 13.5%, according to Curemed’s calculations.
Bestmed announced a weighted average increase of 7.35%, while Momentum Health announced an annual average increase of 7.9%.
Medihelp’s weighted average increase is 7.5%, and Discovery Health Medical Scheme’s is 8.2%.
KeyHealth announced a weighted contribution increase of 8.5%, while Medshield’s weighted average increase is 7.9%. Bonitas announced an average increase of 8.7% across its plans.
The increases vary between plans, which means members should compare the contributions, benefits, and limits of their current option with the alternatives before making a decision.
Members should also consider whether their existing cover still meets their healthcare needs, rather than choosing a plan based on price alone.
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