Medihelp takes over Renaissance members

Medihelp, South Africa’s third largest open medical scheme, will grow with new members on 1 October this year when it takes over members from Renaissance Health Medical Scheme.

The takeover was approved by the Registrar of Medical Schemes and involves more than 4,000 principal members. This follows an earlier decision by the Registrar to place Renaissance under curatorship due to various problems.

Members of Renaissance will be transferred to Medihelp on 1 October and will be registered on benefit options similar to those on which they are currently enrolled. They will be given the opportunity to change to any other Medihelp option, should they prefer to do so.

According to Anton Rijnen (pictured), Executive Principal Officer of Medihelp, the takeover is to both parties’ advantage. “The Renaissance members have the peace of mind that they are joining one of the leading schemes in South Africa and will share in all the benefits associated with this”, says Rijnen.

“In Medihelp’s case, the risk pool is expanded. This is in line with one of our strategic objectives to grow the Scheme’s risk pool. In addition, the Renaissance members, whose average age is 35 years, will have a positive impact on Medihelp’s current age profile. Another advantage is the positive effect of the additional members on the Scheme’s administrative abilities and expenses”, he says.

Medihelp is currently printing membership cards and is negotiating with brokers, service providers and employer groups to ensure that Renaissance members can change membership on 1 October without any interruption in service delivery.