{"id":861697,"date":"2026-05-27T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=861697"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:54:22","slug":"end-of-an-era-for-one-of-south-africas-largest-medical-aids-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/861697\/end-of-an-era-for-one-of-south-africas-largest-medical-aids-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era for one of South Africa’s largest medical aids next week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bonitas Medical Fund will implement new administration and managed care arrangements from 1 June, with Momentum Health taking over the administration of the fund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Momentum will take over the administration from Medscheme, which will end a 43-year-long partnership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing selected as the preferred healthcare administration partner for Bonitas Medical Fund affirms our leadership in the health administration market,\u201d Momentum Group CEO Jeanette Marais previously said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt results in the biggest transfer of a medical scheme from one provider to another in the history of South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transaction will add over 750,000 beneficiaries to Momentum\u2019s administration and shift its market share from 22% to 30%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private Health Administrators (PHA), which runs Bonitas’ lower-cost benefit option, Boncap, will continue to work with the scheme, having done so since 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonitas has been under pressure from the Council of Medical Schemes (CMS), with an investigation over alleged governance failures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the Momentum move, Bonitas said that the healthcare environment is evolving, shaped by growing financial pressure on consumers, complex healthcare needs and rising digital expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Bonitas will introduce new changes that form part of a broader strategy to strengthen the scheme’s long-term sustainability and responsiveness to members and stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonitas is one of the nation’s largest medical schemes, and its latest operational transition is aimed at ensuring its operating model aligns with changing realities in the healthcare market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not change for the sake of change. Healthcare needs are evolving, consumer expectations are changing, and the pressures facing South Africans are intensifying,” said Principal Officer, Lee Callakoppen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To remain relevant and continue delivering value, healthcare organisations need to become more agile, responsive and better equipped to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving environment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callakoppen added that healthcare funders, administrators and managed care organisations have traditionally moved at a measured pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the current environment requires faster innovation and a focus on creating value for members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition followed an extensive process undertaken by the scheme to evaluate how its operating model could best support growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the change means for members <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Bonitas Principal Officer – Lee Callakoppen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a responsibility to ensure we remain responsive to changing market realities while always acting in the best interests of our members,\u201d said Callakoppen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat means partnering with organisations like Momentum and PHA that can strengthen capability, unlock innovation and support a more future-fit healthcare ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonitas said that the operational transition is expected to improve experiences for members, healthcare providers, brokers and employer groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes more streamlined digital processes, simplified communication and service touchpoints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonitas also expects the transition to enhance broker functionality through integrated digital tools, consolidated contribution and reconciliation processes and strengthened servicing capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also expects improved collaboration across administration and managed care functions. \u201cThe care remains the same; what we are strengthening is the system behind it,\u201d added Callakoppen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It believes it will be applicable to changes in the healthcare market, which is being shaped by affordability, evolving disease patterns, regulatory complexities, and changing consumer habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand that while we take steps to ensure that our stakeholders have a positive experience, ultimately it is their input and buy-in which helps drive success.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonitas will move its administrative functions to Momentum in the coming days, as the fund seeks to adapt to a rapidly changing healthcare market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":836601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[12344,10405,6652],"class_list":["post-861697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-bonitas","tag-cms","tag-momentum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861697"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861715,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861697\/revisions\/861715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}