Lifestyle

Discovery Health reveals medical aid price increases for 2027

Malcolm Libera

 ·1 Oct 2026

Discovery Health Medical Scheme members will pay between 7.4% and 8.9% more for their medical aid from January 2027, and the scheme will also introduce a new lower-cost plan aimed at families.

The increases, which are subject to approval by the Council for Medical Schemes, will take effect from 1 January 2027 if approved.

The scheme said two out of every three beneficiaries will receive an increase below 8%. The weighted average contribution increase across all Discovery Health Medical Scheme plans will be 8.2%.

Active Smart will have the lowest increase at 7.4%, taking its contribution to R1,450 per member per month. Smart, Smart Saver and most Core and Saver options will increase by 7.9%.

KeyCare, Coastal Core, Priority, Comprehensive and Executive plans will increase by 8.9%, while Coastal Saver will rise by 8.4%.

Discovery Health said its cumulative contribution increases over the past three years have been 5.1 percentage points lower than the weighted average increases implemented by the next six largest open medical schemes.

“Responsible pricing gives members certainty by balancing affordability with the long-term sustainability of their healthcare funding,” said Dr Ron Whelan, CEO of Discovery Health, the administrator and managed care provider of the scheme.

“Members need confidence not only in the value of their benefits today, but also in the stability of their contributions over time.”

Discovery Health said rising medical costs are being driven by higher healthcare input costs, new treatments, medicines and technology, as well as increasing demand for healthcare as populations age and chronic diseases become more common.

Discovery Health added that it has attempted to limit the impact on members through healthcare management, by reducing fraud and waste, and by encouraging preventive healthcare.

In 2025, Discovery Health and the scheme’s managed care initiatives saved members R12.4 billion, according to the company.

It said these measures helped limit the weighted average contribution increase for 2027 to 8.2%, approximately 2.5 percentage points lower than would otherwise have been required.

Discovery Health’s new medical aid plan

A new plan, Active Core, will also be launched from 1 January 2027, subject to regulatory approval. The plan will cost R1,700 per month for a principal member, R1,550 for an adult dependant and R500 for a child dependant. 

A family of three will therefore pay R3,750 per month, while a family of four will pay R4,250. Discovery Health said the R500 child dependant contribution is the lowest in the open medical scheme market.

Active Core provides unlimited private hospital cover through the Active Hospital Network, which includes more than 40 hospitals nationally.

Members will also have access to up to R8,000 in day-to-day benefits through the Personal Health Fund, as well as maternity and mental health benefits.

“Families in this segment are looking for healthcare cover that they can afford, that meets their day-to-day healthcare needs and that protects them against the significant costs of serious illness,” said Whelan.

The new plan follows the introduction of Active Smart in 2025 and Essential Smart Saver in 2026. Discovery Health said these plans have attracted more than 80,000 lives.

The scheme said affordability remains a major challenge, with more than one million South Africans in the relevant market segment still facing barriers to accessing medical scheme cover.

Discovery Health will also expand its Personal Health Pathways offering in 2027. More than 750,000 adult members currently use the service, which provides personalised health guidance.

The scheme said the service will be expanded using Vitality AI and its partnership with Google, with more than 8,000 clinically validated health actions and over 41,000 personalised recommendations.

“Personalisation has been central to Personal Health Pathways since its launch,” said Whelan. “What changes in 2027 is the depth, precision and relevance of that personalisation.”

Discovery Health Medical Scheme is the country’s largest open medical scheme, covering more than 2.7 million people.

The scheme said it funded R90 billion in healthcare claims during 2025 and processed 64 million individual claims.