Medical aid subsidy | Human Resources

Overview

The UCT medical aid subsidy is available for qualifying permanent staff members appointed before 1 January 2018, new staff members appointed from 1 January 2018 do not qualify. The subsidy is available as either a post-retirement benefit or in the case of a current staff member’s death, a benefit for their dependants.

Qualifying for the UCT medical aid subsidy

To qualify for the post-retirement subsidy, the staff member must:

Be a permanent staff member, appointed before 1 January 2018.
Be a main member on the UCT medical aid scheme. If on an external registered South African medical aid scheme as either the main member or a spouse/partner dependant, the staff member must move back to the UCT medical aid scheme before retirement. This move may incur penalties, waiting periods and/or exclusions as determined by the University’s medical aid scheme.
If not continuously on the UCT medical aid scheme, provide proof of continuous medical aid cover for the entire employment period.

To qualify for the death in service subsidy, the staff member must have been:

A permanent staff member, appointed before 1 January 2018.
A main member on the UCT medical aid scheme (if previously on an external registered South African medical aid scheme, proof of continuous medical aid cover for the entire employment period is required).

Post retirement medical aid subsidy

When retired staff members return to UCT on appointment with benefits, i.e. in either a T2 or permanent capacity, the subsidy will be suspended during the period of employment. Ad hoc and T1 capacity contracts will retain the subsidy as these contract conditions do not include entitlement to benefits.

Death in service medical aid subsidy

Membership to the UCT medical aid scheme will continue, the spouse dependant (in the absence of a spouse dependant, the eldest child dependant) will become the main member. The UCT subsidy, calculated based on the deceased member's employment period, will be applied to the new membership (provided proof received of continuous medical aid cover). In the event of a beneficiary of a deceased member taking up appointment at UCT, the beneficiary should be entitled to continue receiving the subsidy.

Calculation of the subsidy percentage

For qualifying permanent staff members appointed between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2017, the subsidy is 2% per year of service, up to a maximum of 50% of the cost of the subscription for the UCT medical aid scheme.

For qualifying permanent staff members appointed before 1 June 2000, there is no link between medical aid subsidy and years of service and they are automatically entitled to a 50% subsidy of the cost of the subscription for the UCT medical aid scheme.

Subsidy details

The UCT medical aid scheme is currently Discovery Health. The subsidised option, reviewed annually by Council, is the Coastal Saver plan with maximum savings.

The subsidy is applied as per the membership size and the dependants listed as at the time of retirement or death. Exceptions to this are:

Only a spouse/partner dependant and/or child dependant are eligible to be covered by the subsidy. No other adult dependant is covered, but may continue on the membership.
No grandchild can be covered by the subsidy.

Subsidy table (showing maximum subsidy, i.e. 50% on the Coastal Saver plan)
Qualifying membership size	Maximum subsidy
Qualifying membership size	2017	2018	2019	Jan 2020 - June 2021	July 2021 - Sept 2022	Oct - Dec 2022	Apr - Dec 2023	2024
Main member	1004	1080	1187	1304	1382	1492	1610	1712
Member + spouse/partner	1757	1891	2079	2285	2421	2613	2820	2999
Member + child	1408	1515	1666	1831	1940	2095	2260	2403
Member + spouse/partner + child	2161	2326	2558	2812	2979	3216	3470	3690
Member + spouse/partner + 2 children	2585	2761	3037	3338	3537	3819	4120	4381
Member + spouse/partner + 3 children	2969	3196	3516	3865	4095	4422	4770	5072
Member + 2 children	1812	1950	2145	2357	2498	2698	2910	3094
Member + 3 children	1714	2385	2624	2884	3056	3301	3560	3785

The medical aid membership is managed by UCT, therefore any changes to the membership plan or dependants must be requested via the UCT office.

UCT pays the subsidy portion of the contribution to Discovery Health under the employer group account.

Effective from 01 January 2021 the balance of the contribution (member portion) must be recovered by debit order from the member’s bank account to Discovery Health. The duly completed debit order form and supporting documents must be submitted via the UCT office. This is to ensure the membership remains with UCT and the subsidy is allocated accordingly.

If the member’s debit order rejects Discovery Health will suspend cover and should settlement not be made the membership will lapse and will be removed from the UCT account. The subsidy eligibility will fall away, and the member will be required to transfer to private capacity to continue medical aid cover.

If a spouse, partner, adult dependant, child or grandchild is added to the membership after retirement or death, the subsidy will not be extended to this dependant. When a child dependant turns 21 (adult status), their subsidy will automatically fall away. If the membership no longer contains anyone that qualifies for the subsidy, the membership will be moved into private capacity.

In the case of death of a main member receiving the subsidy (e.g. retired staff member, spouse/partner of deceased staff member), any dependants receiving the subsidy remain eligible.

Any changes to the membership will continue to be managed via the UCT Healthcare Specialist:

Debra De Gouveia-Meyer
Tel: 021 650-4001
E-mail: debra.degouveia-meyer@uct.ac.za
Internal mail: Debra De Gouveia-Meyer, Rm 113.1, Bremner Building

Page last updated: 16 May 2023