Bonitas announces new medical aid prices for 2024
Bonitas Medical Fund has announced its price increase for 2024, with a weighted increase of 6.9%.
“We appreciate that many of our members and South Africans, in general, are faced with increasing financial pressures,” said Lee Callakoppen, Principal Officer of Bonitas.
“We have taken great care to balance our benefit enhancements to provide value to our members while still ensuring that contributions remain affordable.”
“For 2024, the weighted increase is 6.9%, with the average increase across nine of our plans at 6%. This means that over 227,000 members – around 65% of our membership – will experience an increase below CPI.”
The group added that the scheme is financially sound, with reserves increasing to R8.8 billion in 2022 despite investing R1.4 billion to members in 2021 and 2022.
The membership numbers also grew by 62,000 principal members, with the average age of new members 13 years younger than the average, which it states is helping to attract a young, healthier profile.
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) said that medical aids should limit their price increases to 5% in 2024, plus a reasonable utilisation estimate of 3.2% to 3.8% – taking the possible increase closer to roughly 8.5%.
The weighted increase of 6.9% at Bonitas is thus lower than the CMS’s recommendations, however, some plans have seen fee increases of up to 9.6%.
The new prices for the various plans can be found below:
| Name of plan | Type of plan | Main Member | Adult Member | Child Member | % Increase |
| BonComprehensive | Savings | R9 853 | R9 292 | R2 006 | 9.6% |
| BonClassic | Savings | R6 732 | R5 780 | R1 662 | 9.6% |
| BonComplete | Savings | R5 359 | R4 293 | R1 455 | 9.6% |
| BonSave | Savings | R3 447 | R2 671 | R1 032 | 6.8% |
| BonFit Select | Savings | R2 295 | R1 719 | R 772 | 2.7% |
| BonStart | Edge | R1 378 | R1 378 | R1 378 | 3.0% |
| BonStart Plus | Edge | R1 754 | R1 668 | R 773 | 3.0% |
| Standard | Traditional | R4 922 | R4 267 | R1 444 | 8.4% |
| Standard Select | Traditional | R4 448 | R3 849 | R1 302 | 8.4% |
| Primary | Traditional | R2 993 | R2 341 | R 952 | 7.2% |
| Primary Select | Traditional | R2 619 | R2 048 | R 832 | 7.2% |
| Hospital Standard | Hospital | R2 964 | R2 497 | R1 127 | 8.4% |
| BonEssential | Hospital | R2 287 | R1 690 | R 739 | 7.1% |
| BonEssential Select | Hospital | R1 998 | R1 464 | R 659 | 6.7% |
| BonCap (R0 to R10 680) | Income-based | R1 430 | R1 430 | R 673 | 5.5% |
| BonCap (R10 681 to R17 330) | Income-based | R1 745 | R1 745 | R 802 | 5.5% |
| BonCap (R17 331 to R22 541) | Income-based | R2 813 | R2 813 | R1 064 | 5.5% |
| BonCap (R22 542+) | Income-based | R3 453 | R3 453 | R1 310 | 5.5% |
New additions
Following a 25% increase in the number of mental health hospital admissions, several mental health programmes have been included in all the plans for 2024.
Depression has been added as a chronic condition on 11 plans, whilst the free-to-download mental health and wellness mobile app, Panda, will be available to all members.
Free online hearing screening has also been introduced as part of the audiology programme, whilst a physiotherapy network has also been established.
Additionally, the Be Better Benefit has been added to all plans except BonCAP, paid from risk for a range of screening tests and benefits to allow for early detection.
- An annual wellness screening (blood pressure, blood glucose, BMI, Cholesterol)
- Flu vaccines
- HIV
- Lipograms
- Mammograms
- Pap smears
- Prostate screening
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Whooping cough boosters
- HPV vaccines
- Stool tests for colon cancer
- Dental fissure sealants
- Online hearing screening
- Contraceptives
For those on BonCap, the scheme has partnered with What’s Up Doc, a WhatsApp service that will allow doctors on the BonCap network to engage with members more easily.
The child-dependent age has also been increased to 24 years and is longer just for students.
Read: Discovery announces price hikes for 2024 – here’s how much more you’ll be paying
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