Bonitas Medical Fund

An entry plan built around a named list of private hospitals and a linked chronic medicine formulary. It is the only Bonitas option other than BonCore where a child pays the same as an adult, and that single fact decides whether it suits your household.

Out of hospital

• Unlimited network GP consultations, with authorisation required after the 6th visit and a R130 co-payment every time. Two non-network GP consultations per family, for emergencies only.
• Unlimited virtual care consultations with a network GP or nurse, at no stated co-payment.
• Two emergency room consultations per family at a casualty ward, for genuine emergencies only.
• R1 850 per family per year covers all GP-referred acute medicine, X-rays and blood tests between them, subject to the radiology and pathology formulary. Acute medicine carries a 20% co-payment per script, rising to 40% if you fill it outside the Bonitas Pharmacy Network, and the medicine has to be on the formulary.
• Over-the-counter medicine limited to R115 per event and R565 per family per year. A 20% co-payment applies unless the item is on the formulary and you have completed your wellness screening, and another 20% unless you use the Bonitas Pharmacy Network.
• One specialist visit per family per year, up to R1 370, with a R275 co-payment and a GP referral. That R1 370 has to cover the consultation and all acute medicine, basic radiology, specialised radiology and pathology the specialist orders.
• One eye test per beneficiary at a network optometrist for a R115 co-payment, or R420 at a non-network provider.
• One dental consultation per beneficiary with a R130 co-payment, plus one scale and polish per beneficiary a year. Fissure sealants for children under 16, one per tooth every three years.
• Two physiotherapy consultations per beneficiary for sport-related injuries, with a R130 co-payment and a referral from your network GP or specialist.
• Wheelchairs, crutches and other general appliances: PMB only.
• Mental health consultations out of hospital: PMB only.
• HIV and AIDS: unlimited, if you register on the programme, with a 30% co-payment if you do not get your chronic medicine from the designated service provider.

In hospital

• Unlimited cover at a hospital on the applicable network, with a R1 850 co-payment on every admission except PMB emergencies. That co-payment applies even when you use the right hospital.
• Use a hospital off the network and you add a R12 680 co-payment on top.
• GP and specialist consultations in hospital are unlimited at 100% of the Bonitas Rate, but non-network GPs and specialists are paid at only 70%, and you carry the 30%.
• Blood tests capped at R32 120 per family except for PMBs. Blood transfusions capped at R23 330 per family. X-rays and ultrasounds unlimited at 100% of the Bonitas Rate.
• MRI and CT scans limited to R14 090 per family with a R2 800 co-payment per scan event except for PMBs, and pre-authorisation.
• Allied medical professionals such as dieticians, speech and occupational therapists: PMB only. In-hospital physiotherapy and biokinetics: PMB only.
• Childbirth is unlimited at a network hospital, but only emergency approved caesarean sections are covered. Off network adds the R12 680 co-payment. Neonatal care is capped at R57 280 per family except for PMBs.
• Internal and external prostheses: PMB only. In-hospital dentistry: PMB only.
• Mental health hospitalisation: PMB only, with no cover at all for physiotherapy during a mental health admission.
• Take-home medicine limited to a 7-day supply up to R470 per hospital stay.
• Physical rehabilitation R62 620 per family. Hospice and step-down facilities R17 340 per family.
• Palliative care for cancer is unlimited if you use the designated service provider, and includes hospice or private nursing, home oxygen, pain management, and psychologist and social worker support.
• Cancer treatment is unlimited for PMBs only, with a 30% co-payment if you do not use a designated service provider. Cancer medicine is subject to a medicine price list and a preferred product list, with a 20% co-payment off the DSP. PET scans are PMB only, with a 25% co-payment off network.
• Organ transplants and kidney dialysis: PMB only, 30% co-payment off the DSP.
• Cataract surgery carries a R9 800 co-payment unless you use the designated service provider.

The same architecture as BonStart, with a real child rate, roughly double the day-to-day pot, lower co-payments almost everywhere, and unlimited in-hospital pathology. Dependants up to age 24 pay child rates.

What BonStart Plus adds

• GP consultations are unlimited, with authorisation only after the 10th visit rather than the 6th, and the co-payment drops from R130 to R75.
• The GP-referred acute medicine, X-ray and blood test pot rises from R1 850 to R3 450 per family.
• Over-the-counter medicine rises to R180 per event and R860 per family per year.
• Two specialist visits per family up to R2 480, with the co-payment down from R275 to R130.
• Four physiotherapy consultations per beneficiary for sport-related injuries, at a R75 co-payment.
• The dental consultation co-payment drops from R130 to R75, and fluoride treatments are covered for children from age 5 to under 16, one a year.
• General appliances such as wheelchairs and crutches get a real benefit of R6 860 per family instead of PMB only.
• In hospital, blood tests, blood transfusions, GP and specialist consultations are all unlimited at 100% of the Bonitas Rate, with no R32 120 or R23 330 cap and no 70% penalty for a non-network practitioner.
• The hospital admission co-payment falls from R1 850 to R1 240.
• Hospice and step-down cover rises from R17 340 to R20 090 per family.

What stays exactly the same

• The same 28 chronic conditions on the same formulary, through the same designated service provider.
• The same R12 680 co-payment for using a hospital off the network, and the same R12 680 for a day surgery outside the network day hospital list.
• The same R14 090 MRI and CT family limit and the same R2 800 co-payment per scan.
• The same PMB-only treatment of mental health, allied health, in-hospital physiotherapy, internal and external prostheses, in-hospital dentistry, organ transplants, kidney dialysis, PET scans and cancer.
• The same childbirth rule: emergency approved caesarean sections only, and neonatal care capped at R57 280 per family.
• The same R9 800 cataract co-payment off the DSP and the same R3 160 procedure co-payment on arthroscopy and laparoscopic hysterectomy.
• The same eye test benefit, the same R420 non-network optometry limit, the same 7-day R470 take-home medicine limit, and the same R62 620 physical rehabilitation limit.

These summaries are not from the approved document on this page. They come from the scheme's 2026 published plan material and reporting on it. Treat every figure here as a starting point to confirm with Bonitas, not as a quoted benefit schedule.

• BonCore, new for 2026 at R1 275 for every beneficiary including children. Virtual-first: unlimited virtual GP consultations plus three face-to-face visits per beneficiary, two emergency room visits a family, a defined network hospital list, 28 chronic conditions, a R1 000 Benefit Booster, non-network GPs and specialists paid at 70%, neonatal care limited to R55 080 a family, and a R5 500 co-payment per admission.
• BonCap, income rated across four bands from R1 730. Network GP consultations unlimited with approval after the 8th visit, specialists by referral, chronic medicine through Marara Pharmacy, 28 chronic conditions, and a 30% co-payment for going off network or failing to authorise an emergency admission within 48 hours. BonCap has no Benefit Booster.
• BonEssential Select at R2 345 and BonEssential at R2 747. Hospital plans on a named hospital list, with unlimited pathology and basic radiology, two emergency room visits a family, 28 chronic conditions and a R1 160 Benefit Booster. Cancer on both is PMB only.
• Hospital Standard at R3 561. A network hospital plan that adds unlimited GP consultations, pathology and radiology at the Bonitas Rate. Non-PMB cancer is limited to R168 100 a family and paid at 80% through designated providers. No Benefit Booster.
• BonFit at R2 698, savings of R4 848 for a main member, R1 440 Benefit Booster. BonPrime at R3 255, the renamed Primary Select, with a published 16% savings allocation worth R6 252 a main member and a R4 000 Booster. BonSave at R4 047 with the largest savings share in the mid range, R12 144 a main member, and a R5 000 Booster.
• Primary at R3 588. Traditional day-to-day limits by family size, from R5 540 for a single member to R12 190 for a member with three or more dependants. Dentures were removed for 2026.
• Standard Select at R5 431 and Standard at R5 929. Day-to-day limits from R13 980 to R25 640 by family size, 45 chronic conditions, a R5 000 Booster. Standard Select requires you to nominate two GPs and allows two non-nominated visits a family a year. Standard is one of only two options that lets you use any private hospital, though an off-network specialist attracts a 30% co-payment.
• BonComplete at R6 614: savings of R11 880 a main member, a self-payment gap of R2 350, an above-threshold benefit of R1 600, 32 chronic conditions. BonClassic at R8 238: savings of R14 832, 46 chronic conditions, non-PMB cancer to R336 100 a family.
• BonComprehensive at R12 509, the flagship. Any private hospital, 61 chronic conditions, savings of R22 512 a main member, a self-payment gap of R5 420, a threshold of R27 932 and an unlimited above-threshold benefit. Non-PMB cancer to R448 200 a family, two PET scans a year. It has no Benefit Booster, because it does not need one.

Bonitas has not published a 2027 range, benefits or contributions as at the date at the foot of this page.

From the approved document. BonStart and BonStart Plus cover 28 chronic conditions on the applicable formulary. You must use Pharmacy Direct to get the medicine. Choose a different pharmacy, or medicine that is not on the formulary, and you pay a 30% co-payment. Pre-authorisation is required before the benefit starts.

Depression is the twenty-eighth and the only condition Bonitas adds above the statutory list on these two options. The R165 a month is a hard rand cap, not a formulary. If your antidepressant costs more than R165 a month you pay the difference every month, for as long as you take it.

For comparison, and from the scheme's wider published material rather than the approved document: BonComplete covers 32 conditions, Standard and Standard Select 45, BonClassic 46 and BonComprehensive 61. Every other option in the range, including BonCore and BonCap, sits at the same 28 as BonStart. If you have a chronic condition that is not on the list above, the two entry options will not pay for the medicine at all.

From the approved document. All limits are per calendar year unless stated otherwise, and managed care protocols apply throughout.

From the approved document. This is a named exclusion list on BonStart and BonStart Plus, separate from the general exclusions in the Scheme Rules. None of it is covered outside what the law requires for a Prescribed Minimum Benefit.

• Back and neck surgery
• Joint replacement surgery
• Knee and shoulder surgery
• Correction of Hallux Valgus
• Functional nasal surgery
• Varicose vein surgery
• Oesophageal reflux and hernia repair surgery
• Gastroscopies, colonoscopies and all other endoscopies
• Non-cancerous breast conditions
• Nail disorders
• Skin disorders, including benign growths and lipomas
• In-hospital dental surgery
• Any healthcare service for which admission to hospital is not necessary

The exclusion of all endoscopies is worth pausing on. A screening colonoscopy, a gastroscopy for reflux, and the removal of a benign polyp are all ordinary mid-life procedures, and neither of these two options pays for any of them. Joint replacements and back surgery are excluded too, which makes both options a poor fit for anyone over roughly 50 or anyone with a known orthopaedic problem.

From the approved document, on BonStart and BonStart Plus:

• Childbirth is unlimited at a hospital on the applicable network, and costs R12 680 more anywhere else.
• Only emergency approved caesarean sections are covered. An elective caesarean is not a covered benefit on either option. If you want a planned caesarean, these are the wrong options.
• Neonatal care is capped at R57 280 per family, except for PMBs. A long neonatal intensive care stay can pass that figure.
• The admission co-payment still applies to a birth: R1 850 on BonStart, R1 240 on BonStart Plus.

From the scheme's wider published material, not the approved document: Bonitas runs a Mother and Child Care programme with up to six antenatal consultations, two 2D ultrasound scans, one amniocentesis, R200 a month for antenatal vitamins, midwife consultations after delivery, newborn hearing and congenital hypothyroidism screening, and a 24-hour paediatric advice line called Babyline for children under three. Registration is on 0860 999 121. The programme is listed as available on BonStart Plus but not on BonStart. That is a further reason to compare the two carefully if you are planning a family, and a point to confirm with the scheme in writing, because it is not stated either way in the approved document.

From the approved document. On BonStart and BonStart Plus, cancer treatment is unlimited for Prescribed Minimum Benefits, subject to registering on the Oncology Management Programme and getting pre-authorisation. There is no rand benefit above the PMB level on either option. Practical consequences:

• Use a designated service provider or pay a 30% co-payment on the treatment.
• Cancer medicine is subject to a medicine price list and a preferred product list, with a 20% co-payment if you do not use a DSP. A newer targeted therapy that is not on the preferred product list is not funded on these options.
• PET scans are PMB only, with a 25% co-payment for using a provider off the network.
• Palliative care for cancer is one of the strongest benefits on either option: unlimited at the DSP, including hospice or private nursing, home oxygen, pain management, and psychologist and social worker support.

From the scheme's wider published material: non-PMB cancer cover exists further up the range at R168 100 a family on BonFit and Hospital Standard, R224 100 on BonSave, Primary and BonPrime, R280 100 on Standard, Standard Select and BonComplete, R336 100 on BonClassic and R448 200 on BonComprehensive. BonEssential, BonEssential Select, BonCore and BonCap sit at PMB only alongside the two entry options. If a cancer diagnosis is the risk you are insuring against, PMB-only cover is the floor of the market, not a benefit.

From the approved document, and this is the weakest area of both options. Mental health consultations out of hospital are PMB only. Mental health hospitalisation is PMB only, and the document states plainly that there is no cover for physiotherapy during a mental health admission. A mental health admission at a hospital off the network still costs R12 680 on top.

Chronic depression is the one addition: medicine up to R165 per beneficiary per month, as the twenty-eighth chronic condition. Bipolar mood disorder and schizophrenia are covered as Prescribed Minimum Benefits on the formulary.

There is a structural oddity worth knowing. The approved document states that completing an online mental health assessment together with a wellness screening is what unlocks the Benefit Booster, the extra out-of-hospital pot that pays before your other day-to-day benefits. So a mental health assessment is the gateway to a financial benefit on these options, while mental health treatment itself is capped at the legal minimum.

From the scheme's wider published material: Bonitas runs a Mental Health Programme covering depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse across all options, with a nominated treating doctor and an assigned counsellor, on 0860 106 155. Out-of-hospital mental health rand limits exist further up the range, reported at R20 310 a family on the top options and R9 780 on Primary. Bonitas also added October Health, a digital mental health service, to the Member App for 2026, and reduced mental health consultation limits on some options in the same year.

From the approved document. Both options give every beneficiary:

The approved document lists a consultation, a scale and polish, fissure sealants and, on BonStart Plus, fluoride, under the heading "basic dentistry", and nothing else. A filling is not named. Ask Bonitas in writing whether a filling is funded and from which benefit before you assume it is, because on these two options there is no savings account and no day-to-day fund for it to come out of. In-hospital dental surgery is on the named exclusion list.

From the scheme's wider published material: DENIS is the dental network across the range, basic dentistry runs to two check-ups a year on the higher options, orthodontics is covered once in a lifetime between ages 9 and 18 on the traditional and top options, and dentures were removed from Primary, BonPrime and BonCap for 2026.

From the approved document. On both BonStart and BonStart Plus the entire optical benefit is one eye test per beneficiary per year at a network provider with a R115 co-payment, or up to R420 at a non-network provider.

No benefit for lenses, frames or contact lenses is published on either option. If you wear glasses, budget for the full cost of the spectacles yourself. That is a meaningful gap on a plan aimed at young adults, and it is one of the clearest differences from the mid-range options, where cover for frames and lenses runs from a few hundred rand on BonSave and BonFit to R4 220 a beneficiary every two years on BonComprehensive and BonComplete.

Across the range the optical network is PPN, benefits run on a two-year cycle with a minimum of 24 months between claims, and each beneficiary gets either glasses or contact lenses, not both. A non-network optometrist has to be paid in cash and the claim submitted afterwards.

From the approved document: BonStart and BonStart Plus have no medical savings account. Day-to-day money on these two options is the set of named, capped benefits listed above and nothing more. When the R1 850 or R3 450 family pot is spent, the rest of the year is yours to pay for.

The document does state that completing an online mental health assessment together with a wellness screening unlocks the Benefit Booster, an extra out-of-hospital benefit that is used before your other day-to-day benefits. The rand amount of the Booster on these two options is not published in the copy of the approved document used for this page. The Booster page in that document is a graphic that carries no extractable text, and the scheme's separate Booster material lists amounts for other options without naming BonStart or BonStart Plus. Do not assume a figure. Ask the call centre what your Booster is worth before you count on it.

From the scheme's wider published material, the 2026 Benefit Booster amounts that are published are R5 000 on BonSave, Standard and Standard Select, R4 000 on BonPrime and Primary, R2 070 on BonComplete and BonClassic, R1 440 on BonFit, R1 160 on BonEssential and BonEssential Select, and R1 000 on BonCore. BonComprehensive, BonCap and Hospital Standard have no Booster. A child under 21 can use the Booster once an adult beneficiary has completed the screening.

Elsewhere in the range, day-to-day money comes from a medical savings account of R4 848 to R22 512 a year for a main member on the six savings options, or from fixed family day-to-day limits of R5 540 to R25 640 on Primary, Standard and Standard Select. Only BonComprehensive has an unlimited above-threshold benefit once the savings and self-payment gap are exhausted; BonComplete's above-threshold benefit is R1 600.

From the approved document, both options carry two benefits that entry-level plans usually do not:

• International travel, up to R1.2 million per family for medical emergencies outside South Africa. You must register for the benefit before you depart. Register late and you have no cover.
• Africa benefit, in and out-of-hospital treatment covered at 100% of the Bonitas Rate, subject to authorisation.

Some third-party summaries state that international travel cover on Bonitas is limited to the mid and upper options and is not available on the entry plans. The approved 2026 document contradicts that: it lists both benefits for BonStart and BonStart Plus without qualification. The document is the authority here.

What the approved document does not contain

• The names of the hospitals on the BonStart and BonStart Plus networks, or on the day surgery network.
• The rand value of the Benefit Booster on these two options, and the detail of the care programmes. Pages 6 to 10 of the approved document are graphics in the copy used here and carry no extractable text.
• The medicine formulary, the radiology and pathology formulary, and the preferred product list for cancer medicine.
• The Bonitas Rate itself, so you cannot tell in advance how large a shortfall a 70% payment on BonStart represents.
• Waiting periods, late-joiner penalty bands and the general exclusions, all of which sit in the registered Scheme Rules.
• Any maternity programme detail, any wellness or screening benefit detail, and any rewards programme.

The document states in its own footer that where it differs from the Scheme Rules, the Scheme Rules prevail, and that the Rules are available at bonitas.co.za.

The 2026 Bonitas individual and group application forms state that the scheme may apply both of the waiting periods the Medical Schemes Act allows:

• A general waiting period of up to 3 months on all benefits. You pay contributions and cannot claim.
• A condition-specific waiting period of up to 12 months on any pre-existing condition.

Bonitas does not publish the circumstances under which it waives either, nor how they interact with Prescribed Minimum Benefits, and the registered Scheme Rules that govern this are not on the public site. On BonStart and BonStart Plus a 12-month condition-specific exclusion matters more than it does on a savings plan, because these options have no savings account to fall back on while you wait.

One further rule from the application forms: if your contributions fall more than 3 months in arrears, Bonitas may terminate your membership, and reapplying triggers full underwriting again, with fresh waiting periods.

If you are 35 or older when you apply and cannot prove continuous previous medical scheme membership, Bonitas may add a permanent late-joiner penalty. The scheme's own wording is that the penalty "may cause an increase of between 5% and 75% on monthly contributions".

Bonitas does not publish its band table. The bands are prescribed by regulation under the Medical Schemes Act and are applied to the risk portion of the contribution, but the scheme does not set out in any public 2026 document which number of uncovered years attracts which percentage. Ask for the calculation in writing before you accept an offer, and supply every previous membership certificate you can find, because each year of proven cover reduces the penalty.

On BonStart at R1 603 a month, a 75% penalty adds R1 202 a month and never falls away. That would put a single member above the cost of BonEssential and near the cost of BonFit, for a considerably thinner plan.

1. Apply online at bonitas.co.za, through a broker, through the call centre on 0860 002 108, or by emailing a completed form to newapplications@bonitas.co.za. Employer groups use a separate group application form.
2. Supply a copy of your identity document or passport, and identity documents or birth certificates for every dependant you are registering.
3. Supply certificates from every previous medical scheme. These decide your waiting periods and any late-joiner penalty.
4. BonCap applicants must also supply proof of income on the scheme's income verification form. Bonitas verifies the income band before it accepts the application.
5. Government employees must supply a recent salary advice showing the Persal number.
6. Disclose your full medical history. Non-disclosure is the usual reason a scheme refuses a claim or cancels a membership after the fact.

Members may change option at the end of a calendar year. For 2026 the deadline was 30 November 2025, effective 1 January 2026. Bonitas has a change of option form for this, and a change of dependants form, a GP nomination form for Standard Select, a broker appointment form and a termination form. The notice period for cancelling membership is not published in any public 2026 document, so ask for it before you give notice.

• Pre-authorisation is required for every hospital admission, every MRI and CT scan, cancer treatment, chronic medicine registration and the defined list of in-room procedures. On BonStart and BonStart Plus you also need authorisation for GP visits after the 6th and 10th visit respectively.
• Register your chronic condition before you claim. Call 0860 002 108 or email chronicmeds@bonitas.co.za. On BonCap and BonCore it goes through Private Health Administrators on 0861 239 333 or phachronic@bonitas.co.za.
• Register on the Oncology Management Programme on 0860 100 572 or oncology@bonitas.co.za before cancer treatment starts, or the benefit does not apply.
• Call Bonitas SOS at the time of an emergency on 0860 555 505. If you arrange your own ambulance without calling, you may be liable for the full cost.
• Providers usually claim directly. You can also submit claims through the Bonitas Member App or the member portal, and view the last 90 days of claims there.
• Bonitas does not publish its claim submission or payment turnaround times. The Medical Schemes Act sets a general four-month window for submitting a claim and 30 days for a scheme to pay, but those are statutory defaults, not a Bonitas commitment. Ask the scheme for its own timeframes in writing.
• On BonCap specifically, an emergency admission must be authorised within 48 hours or a 30% co-payment applies.

Bonitas asks you to work through the scheme first and to have a reference number ready before you escalate.

1. Raise it with Bonitas on 0860 002 108 or by email to queries@bonitas.co.za, and record the reference number you are given.
2. Escalate internally to the scheme's complaints and disputes process under the registered Scheme Rules. Bonitas does not publish the steps or timeframes of this stage on its public site.
3. Take it to the Council for Medical Schemes. The Council acknowledges a complaint in writing within 3 working days, analyses it and refers it to the scheme within 4 days, and the scheme must respond within 30 days. The Registrar's ruling follows within 120 days of referral.
4. Appeal. A section 49 appeal to the Council's Appeals Committee is free and must be lodged within 30 days of the ruling. A section 50 appeal to the Appeal Board costs R2 000 and must be lodged within 60 days.

Council for Medical Schemes: 086 112 3267 or 012 431 0500, information@medicalschemes.co.za, Block A, Eco Glades 2 Office Park, 420 Witch-Hazel Avenue, Eco Park, Centurion, 0157. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:30.

BonCore at R1 275 a month, new for 2026. It charges every beneficiary the same, including children, so it is only cheap for a single member or a couple. BonCap starts lower for families at R1 730 for a main member and R815 a child, but you have to prove your household income falls in the lowest band. Of the two options documented from the approved benefits schedule on this page, BonStart is R1 603 and BonStart Plus is R2 040 for a main member.

Because BonStart charges a child R1 603, the full adult rate, and BonStart Plus charges R899. A couple with two children pays R6 412 on BonStart and R5 778 on BonStart Plus. A single parent with two children pays R4 809 on BonStart and R3 838 on BonStart Plus. BonStart only wins for a single member, a couple with no children, and a couple with exactly one child, where it is R70 a month cheaper. On BonStart Plus a dependant also stays on the child rate up to age 24.

On BonStart and BonStart Plus, R12 680 for a planned admission at a hospital that is not on the applicable network, and the same R12 680 for a day surgery outside the network day hospital list. That is on top of the ordinary admission co-payment of R1 850 on BonStart or R1 240 on BonStart Plus, which you pay even at the right hospital. On most of the mid-range options the penalty is a 30% co-payment instead. Only BonComprehensive and Standard let you use any private hospital.

It depends entirely on the option. BonStart, BonStart Plus, BonCore, BonCap, BonEssential, BonEssential Select, Hospital Standard, BonFit, BonSave, BonPrime and Primary cover 28: the statutory Prescribed Minimum Benefit list plus depression, with depression medicine capped at R165 per beneficiary per month. BonComplete covers 32, Standard and Standard Select 45, BonClassic 46, and BonComprehensive 61. You have to register the condition and use Pharmacy Direct, or Marara Pharmacy on BonCap, or you pay a 30% co-payment.

Only an emergency approved one. The approved 2026 document states for both BonStart and BonStart Plus that childbirth is unlimited at a network hospital but covers emergency approved caesarean sections only. An elective caesarean is not a benefit on either option. Neonatal care is capped at R57 280 per family except for Prescribed Minimum Benefits, and the ordinary admission co-payment applies to the birth.

No. The approved document lists a set of surgical procedures that BonStart and BonStart Plus do not cover at all: back and neck surgery, joint replacement, knee and shoulder surgery, gastroscopies, colonoscopies and all other endoscopies, varicose vein surgery, hernia and reflux surgery, functional nasal surgery, correction of Hallux Valgus, non-cancerous breast conditions, nail disorders, skin disorders including benign growths and lipomas, and in-hospital dental surgery. Anything covered as a Prescribed Minimum Benefit still has to be paid, but nothing above that.

Prescribed Minimum Benefits only, unlimited, subject to registering on the Oncology Management Programme and getting pre-authorisation. There is no rand benefit above the PMB level on either option. Use a designated service provider or pay 30% of the treatment, and 20% on cancer medicine, which is also limited to a medicine price list and a preferred product list. PET scans are PMB only with a 25% co-payment off network. Palliative care is the exception and is unlimited at the DSP. Non-PMB cancer cover starts at R168 100 a family on BonFit and Hospital Standard and runs to R448 200 on BonComprehensive.

No. Neither option has a medical savings account. Day-to-day money is a set of capped benefits: R1 850 or R3 450 per family a year for GP-referred acute medicine, X-rays and blood tests between them, R565 or R860 a family for over-the-counter medicine, one or two specialist visits to R1 370 or R2 480, one eye test, one dental consultation and a scale and polish. When those are used up you pay for yourself. Savings accounts start with BonFit at R4 848 a year for a main member.

It is an extra risk-funded out-of-hospital pot that is spent before your other day-to-day benefits. You unlock it by completing an online mental health assessment together with a wellness screening. The approved 2026 document confirms that BonStart and BonStart Plus have one, but does not publish the rand amount for these two options in the copy used for this page. The published 2026 amounts elsewhere in the range run from R1 000 on BonCore to R5 000 on BonSave, Standard and Standard Select. BonComprehensive, BonCap and Hospital Standard have no Booster. Ask the call centre what yours is worth rather than assuming a figure.

Yes, and unusually for entry-level plans, BonStart and BonStart Plus both carry it. The approved document gives up to R1.2 million per family for medical emergencies while travelling outside South Africa, and you must register for the benefit before you depart. There is a separate Africa benefit covering in and out-of-hospital treatment at 100% of the Bonitas Rate, subject to authorisation. You can activate the travel benefit in the Member App. Register late and you have no cover.

There are three usual reasons on these options. First, the admission co-payment of R1 850 on BonStart or R1 240 on BonStart Plus applies to every admission except a PMB emergency. Second, on BonStart a GP or specialist who is not on the network is paid at only 70% of the Bonitas Rate and you carry the remaining 30%; BonStart Plus does not have this penalty. Third, several benefits are capped: blood tests at R32 120 a family on BonStart, transfusions at R23 330, MRI and CT at R14 090 with a R2 800 co-payment per scan, and neonatal care at R57 280. Ask whether every practitioner treating you is on the network before an elective admission.

Not your benefits. Bonitas moved administration from Medscheme to Momentum Health Solutions on 1 June 2026, but benefits are set by the registered Scheme Rules and the Council-approved benefit schedules, which the handover does not change. What can be affected during a handover is service: claim turnaround, authorisation queues and statement accuracy. The Council for Medical Schemes has a section 43 inquiry open into the appointment and a section 44 investigation into earlier Bonitas procurement decisions, with an end of August 2026 target for the latter. No findings had been published as at 9 September 2026.

Possibly, if you are 35 or older and cannot prove continuous previous medical scheme membership. Bonitas states the penalty may add between 5% and 75% to your monthly contribution, permanently, but it does not publish its band table anywhere public, so you cannot work out in advance what you will be charged. On BonStart at R1 603, the maximum penalty would add R1 202 a month. Gather every previous membership certificate before you apply and ask for the calculation in writing.