Medical aid contributions have skyrocketed over the past few years—at a rate double inflation—and the industry warns that members should expect more of the same for 2025.
Looking at historical data on medical aid prices, a member of a Discovery Classic Comprehensive plan in 2017 would have been paying R4,506 a month.
In 2024, contributions for the same plan (ignoring the changes to benefits and other details of the plans over the years) now cost a member R8,381 a month—an 86% increase, compared to the 40% rate of inflation over the same period.
This higher-than-inflation rise in medical aid prices is seen almost across the board, across schemes and companies, averaging around 70%, with very few exceptions.
The tables below outline how medical aid prices have changed since the peak increase in 2017 versus headline inflation averaging 40% over the same period. …more
