The Government Employees Medical Scheme says its request for a lower increase in contributions has been rejected, with the expected and more acceptable 7.5% hike from 1 July having been turned down by the Council for Medical Schemes, reports News24.
Now, staff will be hit with a whopping 9.5% increase instead. The original 9.8% weighted average increase for 2026 was essential to ensure its long-term financial sustainability, GEMS had said at the time, but then it slashed this when the Public Servants Association (around 245 000 current and former government workers), slammed the adjustment, dropping it down to 9.5% with effect from February, and, in May, saying it would trim this even further – to 7.5% – from 1 July.
However, on Tuesday, after submission of the proposal to the CMS, that request was rejected.
Previously, the regulator had expressed concerns about the lower contributions, citing risks to financial stability.
GEMS principal officer Stan Moloabi said the regulator’s assessment had to be respected, “and we must address the concerns raised”, he added.
GEMS was created specifically to provide healthcare coverage for its 890 000 public service employees and the more than 2.4m beneficiaries.
In comparison, Discovery Health Medical Scheme implemented a weighted average contribution increase of 7.2% from 1 April. Bonitas raised its 2026 member contributions by an average of 8.8%, while Medshield and Bestmed increased theirs by 7.5% and 6.8%, respectively.
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