Medical aid prices in 2021: Discovery vs Bonitas vs Momentum and others
Following a six month freeze on contributions for 2021, South Africa’s largest medical aid scheme, Discovery Health, has announced price changes which will come into effect from July.
Discovery’s plans will increase at a rate of 5.9% across the board. Taking into account the 0% hike for the first six months of the year, this translates to an effective increase of 3% for the year.
The medical scheme is the biggest in South Africa, with 1.34 million members recorded in 2020, and 2.8 million beneficiaries.
This is four times bigger than any other open medical scheme, with Bonitas following at a distant second place with just under 340,000 members and 720,000 beneficiaries.
5 Biggest Open Medical Schemes (2020)
Scheme | Type | Members | Beneficiaries |
---|---|---|---|
Discovery Health | Open | 1 342 758 | 2 795 107 |
Bonitas | Open | 336 651 | 718 919 |
Momentum Health | Open | 156 841 | 298 829 |
Medihelp | Open | 94 084 | 205 438 |
Bestmed Medical Scheme | Open | 94 527 | 197 956 |
Discovery
Discovery will implement a 5.9% increase across all plans, effective 1 July 2021. This is how the prices will change:
Executive
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Executive Plan | R7 257 | R7 688 | 5.9% |
Comprehensive
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Classic Comprehensive | R5 954 | R6 309 | 5.9% |
Classic Delta Comprehensive | R5 362 | R5 681 | 5.9% |
Essential Comprehensive | R5 003 | R5 301 | 5.9% |
Essential Delta Comprehensive | R4 507 | R4 775 | 5.9% |
Classic Smart Comprehensive | R4 327 | R4 585 | 5.9% |
Priority
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Classic Priority | R3 814 | R4 041 | 5.9% |
Essential Priority | R3 278 | R3 472 | 5.9% |
Saver
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Classic Saver | R3 290 | R3 485 | 5.9% |
Classic Delta Saver | R2 628 | R2 784 | 5.9% |
Essential Saver | R2 615 | R2 770 | 5.9% |
Essential Delta Saver | R2 085 | R2 209 | 5.9% |
Coastal Saver | R2 608 | R2 763 | 5.9% |
Smart
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Classic Smart | R1 954 | R2 070 | 5.9% |
Essential Smart | R1 400 | R1 483 | 5.9% |
Core
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Classic Core | R2 449 | R2 594 | 5.9% |
Classic Delta Core | R1 960 | R2 076 | 5.9% |
Essential Core | R2 104 | R2 229 | 5.9% |
Essential Delta Core | R1 681 | R1 781 | 5.9% |
Coastal Core | R1 946 | R2 062 | 5.9% |
KeyCare
Plan | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
KeyCare Plus 0 – 8 550 | R1 207 | R1 279 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Plus 8 551 – 13 800 | R1 659 | R1 758 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Plus 13 801+ | R2 450 | R2 595 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Core 0 – 8 550 | R949 | R1 005 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Core 8 551 – 13 800 | R1 183 | R1 253 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Core 13 801+ | R1 809 | R1 916 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Start 0 – 9 150 | R914 | R968 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Start 9 151 – 13 800 | R1 538 | R1 629 | 5.9% |
KeyCare Start 13 801+ | R2 394 | R2 536 | 5.9% |
Bonitas
South Africa’s second-largest open medical aid scheme, Bonitas, announced a weighted increase of 4.6% across all its plans for 2021 – ranging between 0% and 7%. The only plan to see a fee freeze is the BonFit Select plan, while the more comprehensive plans see the largest increases.
The group has also introduced two new plans for 2021. The plans: BonStart and BonStart Plus, are designed for economically active singles or couples, living in the larger metros.
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
BonComprehensive | R7 207 | R7 715 | 7.0% |
BonClassic | R5 003 | R5 330 | 6.5% |
BonComplete | R4 009 | R4 291 | 7.0% |
BonSave | R2 723 | R2 847 | 4.6% |
BonFit Select | R2 152 | R2 152 | – |
Standard | R3 888 | R4 044 | 4.0% |
Standard Select | R3 368 | R3 589 | 6.6% |
Primary | R2 429 | R2 537 | 4.4% |
Primary Select | R2 065 | R2 180 | 5.6% |
Hospital Standard | R2 284 | R2 434 | 6.6% |
BonEssential | R1 877 | R1 962 | 4.5% |
BonEssential Select | R1 602 | R1 675 | 4.6% |
BonCap 0-8520 | R1 159 | R1 212 | 4.6% |
BonCap 8521-13840 | R1 372 | R1 434 | 4.5% |
BonCap 13841-18900 | R2 210 | R2 311 | 4.6% |
BonCap 18901+ | R2 714 | R2 837 | 4.5% |
NEW BonStart | – | R1 452 | – |
NEW BonStart Plus | – | R1 731 | – |
Momentum
Momentum Medical Scheme is the third-largest open medical aid scheme in South Africa and announced a weighted average annual contribution increase of 3.9% for 2021.
The figures below are the starting prices, with more variety offered in each plan grouping.
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Evolve | R1 294 | R1 345 | 3.9% |
Custom | R1 642 | R1 706 | 3.9% |
Incentive | R2 141 | R2 224 | 3.9% |
Extender | R5 033 | R5 231 | 3.9% |
Summit | R10 187 | R10 642 | 4.5% |
Ingwe | R432 | R455 | 5.3% |
MediHelp
MediHelp’s increases for the year range between 5.8% and 6.4%. The group offers networked (N) and non-networked (NN) on its Prime schemes, which offer reduce rates for using scheme-networked healthcare providers. Prices for 2021 are as follows:
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Prime 1 N | R1 626 | R1 722 | 5.9% |
Prime 1 NN | R2 082 | R2 202 | 5.8% |
Prime 2 N | R2 160 | R2 286 | 5.8% |
Prime 2 NN | R2 772 | R2 934 | 5.8% |
Prime 3 N | R2 964 | R3 138 | 5.9% |
Prime 3 NN | R3 618 | R3 828 | 5.8% |
Unify | R2 598 | R2 748 | 5.8% |
Elite Comprehensive | R5 304 | R5 610 | 5.8% |
Plus Comprehensive | R9 180 | R9 714 | 5.8% |
Necesse 0-600 (students) | R598 | R636 | 6.4% |
Necesse 601-11000 | R2 208 | R2 334 | 5.7% |
Necesse 11001+ | R2 574 | R2 724 | 5.8% |
BestMed
BestMed’s increases for the year range between 3.9% and 4.2% for some of the higher-tier packages. The group offers networked (N) and non-networked (NN) on its Beat schemes, which offer reduce rates for using scheme-networked healthcare providers. Prices for 2021 are as follows:
Beat
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Beat 1 N | R1 454 | R1 511 | 3.9% |
Beat 1 NN | R1 617 | R1 680 | 3.9% |
Beat 2N | R1 778 | R1 847 | 3.9% |
Beat 2 NN | R1 976 | R2 053 | 3.9% |
Beat 3 N | R2 697 | R2 805 | 4.0% |
Beat 3 NN | R2 997 | R3 117 | 4.0% |
Beat 4 | R4 685 | R4 872 | 4.0% |
Pace
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Pace 1 | R3 930 | R4 083 | 3.9% |
Pace 2 | R5 566 | R5 800 | 4.2% |
Pace 3 | R6 390 | R6 658 | 4.2% |
Pace 4 | R7 983 | R8 318 | 4.2% |
Pulse
Plan | 2020 | 2021 | % change |
---|---|---|---|
Pulse 1 R0-R5500 | R1 626 | R1 694 | 4.2% |
Pulse 1 R5501-R8500 | R1 953 | R2 035 | 4.2% |
Pulse 1 R8501+ | R2 344 | R2 442 | 4.2% |
Pulse 2 | R5 770 | R6 012 | 4.2% |
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