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BL Premium reports that Discovery plans to merge its medical scheme with Quantum Medical Aid Society on 1 April 2021. Quantum is a small, restricted-membership medical scheme whose participating employees are Bidvest and Sun International workers.
According to a notice posted on Discover’s website, Quantum has experienced a steady decline in membership over the past 10 years with the number of principal members falling from 7,078 in 2011 to 3,273 at end-September 2020. At the same time, the average age of Quantum’s members has increased from 30.6 in 2011 to 37.6 at end-September 2020. Discovery Health Medical Scheme had more than 1.326-million members at the end of September with an average beneficiary age of 35.8 years. The average beneficiary age of SA's medical aid industry as a whole was 33.1 by end-December 2018. The main reason cited for the proposed merger was that it would not be sustainable over the long term due to its declining members and their increasing average age. Discovery’s notice also cited the impact of Covid-19, which was expected to worsen the trend of falling membership. Quantum has experienced operating losses for the past five years. The proposed amalgamation has been approved by the Registrar of Medical Schemes.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Garth Theunissen at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page