Johannesburg – The Competition Tribunal has approved the merger of Bonitas Medical Fund and Nedgroup Medical Aid (NMAS), the watchdog has announced.
Bonitas, which is an open medical scheme, has about 730 000 beneficiaries and more than R6-billion in reserves.
NMAS is a restricted membership medical scheme, which caters for Nedbank and Old Mutual employees.
Once the medical schemes are amalgamated, all members of NMAS will become members of Bonitas on the amalgamation date.
The target date for the amalgamation is January 1 2022, to coincide with the start of the new benefit year.
Bonitas said the amalgamation would fortify its size, as well as decrease the average age and pensioner ratio while bolstering the reserves.
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) recommends that schemes which cannot compete on a sustainable price point should consider amalgamation partners.
The CMS is the statutory body that provides regulatory supervision of more than 80 medical schemes registered in the country and oversees amalgamation prospects.
The CMS recently approved the merger of Hosmed Medical Scheme and Sizwe Medical Fund to form what will be known as Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme.
The amalgamation brings together Sizwe’s 46 900 members with Hosmed’s 21 000.
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