Discovery to increase medical aid contributions by as much as 8.9%

Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) has announced that its medical aid contributions will rise by 7.4% to 8.9% from January 1, 2027. Two-thirds of beneficiaries will see increases of less than 8%, with the average increase for 2027 at 8.2%, which is 2.5 percentage points lower than anticipated. The largest increases will apply to Priority, Comprehensive, and Executive plans, all of which will see a 8.9% rise.

The smallest increase is for the newly introduced Active Smart plan, which will not change from the previous year. DHMS states that benefit option increases range from 7.4% for KeyCare to 8.9% for Core, Coastal Core, and Priority plans. Its Classic Comprehensive plan, aimed at families, remains a cornerstone of the scheme, with 155,000 beneficiaries.

DHMS CEO Dr. Ron Whelan emphasizes that medical inflation affects health systems worldwide and highlights that Discovery Health has managed these pressures effectively by keeping contribution increases below the medical inflation corridor of CPI plus 3% to 4%. The primary driver of medical inflation, according to DHMS, is the increasing cost of healthcare services and the growing demand for care due to aging populations and rising chronic disease prevalence.

The scheme combats rising healthcare costs by funding and managing healthcare to prioritize quality over volume, supporting care delivery in the most appropriate settings, and reducing fraud, waste, and inefficiency. Additionally, DHMS employs personal health pathways and Vitality to attract younger, healthier members and strengthen the sustainability of the risk pool, which helped limit the weighted average contribution increase for 2027 to 8.2%, compared to the 3.5% average increase by the six largest open medical schemes in the market over the past three years.