Medshield Increase 2027: What Every Option Will Cost

Last reviewed: October 2026. We review our guides regularly to keep them accurate.

By Hagop Jaghlassian, CEO and Certified Financial Planner at Curemed. Reviewed by Roxanne Hurter-Ehlers, Director of People and Governance.

Medshield Medical Scheme states a weighted average contribution increase of 7.9% for 2027, effective 1 January 2027 and pending approval by the Council for Medical Schemes. By option, the increase runs from 5.9% on MediCurve to 9.9% on PremiumPlus, MediBonus, MediSaver and MediCore, so your own option will probably not match the headline. All 8 benefit options return, with MediPlus and MediValue each priced in a Prime and a Compact network version, giving 10 priced variants. The child dependant age rises from 21 to 24, and option change requests must reach Medshield by 31 December 2026. Curemed set the official 2026 and 2027 contribution tables side by side, and this article shows what every option will cost.

How much will each Medshield option cost in 2027?

The 7.9% is a weighted average: it reflects where members sit across the options, and it is not the increase on any single option. Nine of the ten priced variants rise by 7.0% or more, and six rise by 9.0% or more.

Two results stand out. First, four variants rise by 9.9%, and one of them is MediCore, which has no day-to-day benefit and now costs R4,701 a month for a main member. Second, MediCurve is the only variant where the three rates move differently: the main member rate rises by 5.9%, the child rate by 9.9%, and the adult dependant rate does not move at all.

The official Medshield 2027 contribution table is marked Pending CMS Approval. No option is priced by income, and none has closed, opened or been renamed since 2026.

What does a family of four pay on Medshield in 2027?

On most variants the main member, adult and child rates rise by close to the same percentage, so a family sees much the same percentage as a single member and only the rand amount grows. The table takes a main member, one adult dependant and two child dependants.

The family view softens the MediCurve increase to 4.4%, because the adult dependant rate is frozen at R1,821. MediPhila charges an adult dependant the same rate as the main member, so a couple on MediPhila pays R4,590 a month, double the single rate. At the other end, a family of four on PremiumPlus pays R2,160 more a month, or R25,920 more over the year.

What does the new child dependant age mean for Medshield families?

This change could reduce a contribution. In 2026 a dependant stopped qualifying for the child rate at 21. For 2027, a child dependant is a dependant under 24, including a student under 28 in terms of the Scheme Rules, or a permanently disabled dependant irrespective of age. An adult dependant is aged 24 or older, excluding a student up to 28.

Take a 22 year old who is not a student and is registered on MediPlus Prime. In 2026 that dependant paid the adult rate of R3,879 a month. In 2027 the same dependant falls under the child rate of R1,329, which is R2,550 a month less, even after the 9.0% increase. That is the Curemed reading of the definitions, so confirm with the scheme how your dependants will be rated in January.

The child rate applies to the first, second and third biological or legally adopted children, with student dependants excluded from that count. The three child cap does not apply on MediPhila and MediCurve, where every child pays the child rate.

Which Medshield benefits change for 2027?

On PremiumPlus the 25% savings portion is worth R31,284 a year for a main member, R28,656 for an adult and R5,988 for a child, with the annual threshold at R37,000, R35,000 and R6,600 and the Above Threshold Benefit unchanged at R7,500, R5,500 and R3,700. On MediSaver the 15% savings portion is worth R10,632, R8,808 and R2,592. The day-to-day limit on MediBonus runs from R16,300 to R28,300, on MediPlus from R12,480 to R22,850 and on MediValue from R8,800 to R13,000, depending on family size. MediPhila rises from R4,700 to R4,900 per family, MediCurve gains a new day-to-day limit of R1,000 per family, and MediCore has no day-to-day benefit.

• All options: a new Mediclinic Hospital-at-Home benefit, and new SmartCare mental health support with unlimited consultations with a private nurse.
• Most options: an oral contraception limit of R3,185 (R2,080 on MediPhila and R2,470 on MediCurve), discharge medication of up to 7 days supply, a new infant hearing screening, and physiotherapy, biokinetics and chiropractic cover for sports and non-sports injuries.
• Rehabilitation: the co-payment for physical rehabilitation as an alternative to hospitalisation falls away on MediPlus, MediSaver, MediCore, MediValue, MediPhila and MediCurve.
• PremiumPlus: a new Oncology Innovative Medicine Co-funding Programme.
• MediCurve: specialist visits rise to two per family, two new paediatric consultations per family for children under two, the basic dentistry co-payment falls away, and general radiology of R1,000 per family arrives.

Co-payments matter when you pick a network variant. Voluntary use of a non-network specialist carries a 30% upfront co-payment on every option, and voluntary admission to a non-network hospital on MediPlus carries 30% upfront. On MediPlus Compact, MediValue Compact, MediPhila and MediCurve, seeing a specialist without a GP referral carries a 20% co-payment.

How does the Medshield increase compare with other schemes?

As reported by Moonstone, the 7.9% matches the 7.9% stated by Momentum, sits below Discovery at 8.2% weighted and Bonitas at 8.7%, and above Medihelp at 7.5% weighted and Bestmed at 7.35% weighted. Averages are not directly comparable, because each reflects a different membership and option mix. A more useful test is your own option against similar cover elsewhere, which the Curemed medical aid comparison sets out.

All of these averages sit well above the 3.8% anchor that the Council for Medical Schemes recommended in Circular 20 of 2026, aligned with SARB CPI projections, with any extra provision for solvency to be supported by the scheme own financial position. Medshield reported a solvency ratio of 53% for 2025 against the 25% statutory minimum, and the Sunday Times reported 80,899 principal members at the end of July 2026.

What should Medshield members do before 31 December?

Start with your own variant in the tables above, then work through three checks.

1. MediCore members: compare the R4,701 main member rate with MediValue Prime at R3,465, which includes a day-to-day limit, and with hospital plans at other schemes. The networks differ, so check your hospital and GP first.
2. Families with dependants aged 21 to 23: confirm that Medshield will rate them at the child rate from January, and that any student up to 28 is correctly registered.
3. Members weighing MediCurve: at R1,929 a month for a main member, the list of medical aid options under R2,000 shows how it sits against entry options elsewhere.

The Medshield option change request form must reach the scheme by 31 December 2026, by email to [email protected], and the change applies from 1 January. Employer-paid members need HR to sign the form. Contribution collection closes earlier, on 15 December 2026, and a later request risks the correct contribution only being deducted in February 2027, with any credit offset against February.

A member moving between network variants, or onto an option with a GP referral requirement, will deal with new networks, specialist referral co-payments, chronic medication applications and pre-authorisations in January. That scheme admin is what CureClub, the Curemed member support team, takes on. It is an exclusive Curemed member benefit: a dedicated healthcare support team that deals with the medical scheme on behalf of the member, from authorisations before procedures and chronic medication applications to claim submissions and tracking outstanding reimbursements, and it escalates when the scheme gets something wrong. CureClub is open to anyone on a registered South African medical scheme.

If you would like help with your 2027 Medshield options, a Curemed Advisor can compare your current option with the alternatives inside and outside the scheme, work through the family arithmetic with you, and show where Gap Cover may help with co-payments, depending on the policy. Gap Cover is short-term insurance, not a medical scheme. A member with another intermediary can move to Curemed as Advisor of record without changing option or scheme. Curemed has advised members since 1992 across all nine provinces, with no obligation attached to a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Who claims the tax credit when a parent pays a Medshield contribution?

The medical scheme fees tax credit belongs to the taxpayer who paid the contributions, not automatically to the person named as the member. For the 2027 year of assessment it is R376 a month for the first person, R752 for two and R254 for each additional dependant. If a parent pays the MediCurve contribution of a 25 year old who is the principal member, the parent claims the credit, provided that young adult is a dependant of the parent for tax purposes. The same contributions may not be claimed by two taxpayers, and because the tax certificate is in the member name, SARS may ask for an affidavit on audit. The Curemed medical aid tax credit calculator works out the amount.

Does moving from MediSaver to MediCore restart a waiting period?

No. Section 29A of the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 prevents a scheme from imposing a general or condition-specific waiting period on a beneficiary who changes option within the same scheme, although a beneficiary still serving a waiting period serves out the remainder. A move to a different scheme can attract waiting periods, and an applicant with no cover in the preceding 90 days may have Prescribed Minimum Benefits excluded during that time.

Can a Medshield option change be withdrawn once it is processed?

Not within the same year. Medshield allows option changes only from 1 January, does not allow mid-year changes, and states that a processed change cannot be reversed for the year. Run the numbers for the whole household before sending the form.

Does Gap Cover pay the 30% Medshield specialist co-payment?

It depends on the policy. Gap Cover is short-term insurance that pays alongside a medical scheme. Some policies cover a percentage co-payment for the voluntary use of a non-network specialist or hospital, while others exclude it, so check the policy wording. The Curemed Gap Cover guide explains what the policies tend to include and exclude.

Which Medshield options cover conditions beyond the 26 on the Chronic Disease List?

Every Medshield option covers the 26 Chronic Disease List conditions, as the law requires. PremiumPlus covers 54 additional conditions, MediBonus 48 and MediPlus 14. The benefit guide for each option lists any further conditions it funds. A member on chronic medicine for a condition outside the 26 should confirm before January how the new option will fund it.

Hagop Jaghlassian

CEO and Certified Financial Planner | Curemed Health and Wealth Consultants

More about Hagop