Union federations Cosatu and Fedusa have raised the alarm over rising medical aid premiums, describing the current healthcare financing system as “unsustainable, too expensive and failing workers”.
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has acknowledged the severity of the situation, agreeing that the current model is inappropriate. However he noted that escalating medical aid costs have become a matter of significant social and economic concern.
The unions highlighted the mounting financial pressure on employees, citing recent increases by the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems).
“Workers are facing relentless increases in medical aid contributions — including the recent 9.5% adjustment by Gems — at a time when wages remain under pressure and the broader cost of living continues to rise,” they stated.
“What was once considered a basic layer of social protection is increasingly becoming an unaffordable luxury for many working households.”
The union federations clarified that this crisis extended beyond any single medical scheme; rather, it was rooted in the broader structure of South African healthcare financing.
“Despite significant national expenditure on health, the system continues to produce unequal outcomes, with a disproportionate share of resources benefiting a minority while the majority face constrained access and rising costs.”
The primary drivers of these costs were the pricing practices of private hospitals and the systemic pressure placed on medical schemes.
“Medical schemes, including Gems, are responding to these pressures by increasing premiums to remain viable, with the burden ultimately unfairly and unnecessarily falling on workers.
“This is the core injustice confronting the working class. They are being asked to carry the cost of a system that is structurally flawed and increasingly detached from affordability and reality.”
Cosatu and Fedusa said their joint campaign was aimed at addressing healthcare costs across the board, not just within Gems.
They said they were prepared to use several avenues to force change such as campaigning through available platforms, including Section 77 processes currently under way at Nedlac, ongoing engagements within the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, co-ordinated mass action, strategic litigation, political interventions and sustained public advocacy.
“These interventions reflect the growing consensus across organised labour and the broader public that escalating healthcare costs require urgent national intervention and cannot be left to market forces alone.”
Fedusa and Cosatu urged the government to take decisive action to regulate the pricing of private healthcare providers, insisting that “workers cannot be expected to carry this burden indefinitely”.
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