At a glance:

•       353 763 Principal members
•          727 041 Total beneficiaries
•          62 000 new principal members added last year
•          18.7% chronic profile
•          Average age of beneficiary: 35.5
•          Average age of new members is 13 years younger than existing members
•          R8.8 billion in reserves 
•          41.3% solvency ratio
•          AA+ Credit rating

Plans

Bonitas offers a wide range of plans that are simple and easy to understand. There are 15 options in five categories: Savings, traditional, hospital, Edge (virtual) and income-based.

 Increases

• The avarage increase across all plans is 6.9%
• The risk contribution on Primary, Primary Select, BonSave, BonFit Select, BonEssential, BonEssential Select, BonStart, BonStart Plus and BonCap is 6%
  • These options contribute to over 70% of new business
  • 227 000 members will experience an increase below CPI – approximately 65% of our membership
• Plan increases range from 2.7% to 9.6%
• Increased savings, for BonSave it’s an increase of 25%

Note: Contributions from January 2024

What’s new?

• Mental Health: Due to a 25% increase in the number of mental health hospital admissions, the mental health programme has been included on all plans for 2024
  • Depression has also been added as a chronic condition on 11 plans
  • The mental health app – Panda – is a free to download mental health and wellness mobile app available to all members
• Hearing: As part of the audiology programme, free online hearing screenings have been introduced
• DBC Back and neck programme: A physiotherapy network has been established 
• Oncology: Increased specialised drug benefit on BonClassic, BonComprehensive, Standard and Standard Select
  • International bone marrow searches allowed
• Introduction of a Be Better Benefit, paid from risk for a range of screening tests and benefits to allow for early detection (all plans except BonCap)
  • An annual wellness screening (blood pressure, blood glucose, BMI, cholesterol)
  • Flu vaccines
  • HIV
  • Lipograms
  • Mammograms
  • Pap smears
  • Prostate screening
  • Pneumococcal vaccine
  • Whooping cough boosters
  • HPV vaccines
  • Stool tests for colon cancer
  • Dental fissure sealants
  • Online hearing screening
  • Contraceptives
• Pharmacy network:  Over 4 000 pharmacies to choose from including all Clicks, Dischem and Medirite branches
• HPV vaccine has been extended to all plans. 2 doses for females aged 9 to 14 years and 3 doses for females aged 15 to 26 years per lifetime
• HIV+ members: An annual test for HIV+ members who had a positive cytology test, as well as a choice between the 3-yearly basic cytology test or a 5-yearly HPV PCR test 
• The Benefit Booster has been adjusted according to utilisation (10% monetary increase on 8 plans). The only benefit in the market which provides members with access to an additional amount to use for out-of-hospital expenses at no extra cost – effectively giving savings and day-to-day benefits a healthy boost
  • Covers everything from additional GP consultations to acute medicine.
• Increased the child dependant age to 24 years, not just for students
• Partnered with What’s Up Doc: An innovative patient-driven WhatsApp service that allows doctors on the BonCap network to engage with members more easily – sharing prescriptions, blood test results, specialist referrals, etc - it’ll improve care coordination