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BL Premium reports that SA’s two biggest medical scheme administrators, Discovery Health and Medscheme, have reported growth in membership among their client schemes, despite the downturn in the economy and widespread job losses during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve seen an unbelievable growth in Discovery Health Medical Scheme since December,” said Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach. The growth was contrary to expectations, and appeared to be because people were prioritising health cover over other spending, even if they lost their jobs, he stated. The growth in medical scheme membership was primarily among individuals seeking cover, rather than among businesses adding to their pool of subsidised employees, Noach noted. He speculated that the intensity of SA’s second wave of coronavirus infections, which began to surge in early December, contributed to consumers’ decisions. A similar trend has been seen in Medscheme, SA’s second-biggest medical scheme administrator. “We were expecting a drop-off but it hasn’t happened at all. People are holding on to medical aid for dear life, and we are seeing no more buydown than usual. People are afraid of the health-care challenges they are facing, and want to be sure they are covered,” said Afrocentric CEO Ahmed Banderker. Medscheme provides managed care services to the Government Employees medical Scheme (Gems) and had seen growth of 5,000 lives in that part of the business since January. The trends in medical scheme growth are surprising, as the market has stagnated for the past decade and failed to keep pace with population growth, leaving monthly premiums unaffordable for an increasing proportion of consumers. While membership is closely correlated with income and employment, it is also linked to affordability, and in the run-up to the coronavirus pandemic annual premium increases consistently outstripped consumer price inflation.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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