In South Africa, members typically sign up for medical aid through a comparison website or through a registered broker. The practical difference is who handles the work: with a broker, you get advice across schemes, claims support, plan-change assistance and an independent point of contact for everything related to your cover.

What does a medical aid broker actually do?

A registered medical aid broker (a 'broker' under the FAIS Act and an 'authorised intermediary' under the Medical Schemes Act) does four things for a member: (1) compares plans across schemes against the member's specific needs; (2) handles application and onboarding paperwork; (3) assists with claims queries, chronic medicine applications and authorisations when something goes wrong; (4) reviews the plan annually and at life-stage changes to make sure it still fits.

Can a broker recommend any scheme, or only some?

A registered broker can recommend any open medical scheme the broker is formally accredited to advise on. Most South African brokerages are accredited with multiple schemes, Curemed, for example, advises on Bestmed, Bonitas, Discovery Health, Fedhealth, KeyHealth, Medihelp and Momentum. A broker who is only accredited with one scheme (a 'tied broker') will only recommend that scheme. The FSCA public register and the CMS broker register both show which schemes a broker is accredited with.

When is a comparison website enough?

Comparison websites are useful for a side-by-side view of headline plan features. They are less helpful for matching benefits to your specific health needs (chronic conditions, network preferences, life stage), for plan changes mid-year, or for claims support. Most comparison sites in South Africa are themselves operating under a broker licence, so once you click through and apply, you are typically already going through a brokerage anyway.

How is a broker regulated in South Africa?

Medical aid brokers are regulated under two regimes: the FAIS Act 37 of 2002 (administered by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the FSCA) and the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 (administered by the Council for Medical Schemes, the CMS). A legitimate broker must hold an FSCA FSP licence and CMS accreditation. Curemed is FSP 44098 and CMS ORG 163. Both registers are publicly searchable on fsca.co.za and medicalschemes.co.za.

How to choose a broker, checklist

Before appointing a broker, check:

• Are they registered with the FSCA? Ask for the FSP number and search it on fsca.co.za.
• Are they accredited with the CMS as a broker organisation? Ask for the ORG number.
• How many schemes are they accredited to advise on? More schemes generally means more genuinely independent comparison.
• Will they give you a written needs-analysis before recommending a plan? This is required under the FAIS Act.
• Is there a named compliance officer? This is required under the FAIS Act.
• Are their company policies, privacy, complaints, conflict of interest, published?

Frequently asked questions about medical aid brokers

Need help choosing a medical aid scheme?

Looking for family medical aid specifically?

See our family-focused guide on maternity, paediatric and dependent cover.