Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has published the Annual Policy Benefit Escalations regarding the Demarcation Regulations, regulated under section 72 of the Long-term Insurance Act and section 70 of the Short-term Insurance.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Treasury said the regulations specify which types of contracts are regulated under the Long-term Insurance Act (LTIA) and the Short-term Insurance Act (STIA) as health policies, and accident and health policies, respectively, and accordingly are excluded from the Medical Schemes Act.
“Regulation 7.2(2) of the Regulations provides that all amounts referred to in sub-regulation (1) escalate annually, from the effective date, by the consumer price index (CPI) annual inflation rate published by Statistics South Africa,” read the statement.
The Treasury said the escalation of the policy benefits will take place each year for as long as Regulation 7.2(2) provides for automatic escalation.
Going forward, National Treasury will annually publish these amounts in order to maintain clarity on the escalated policy benefits following queries received from providers regarding what the current escalated policy benefits are.
Regulation 7.2(2) (LTIA) and Annexure B: Regulation 7.2(2) are to be updated annually and are available on the websites of the National Treasury at www.treasury.gov.za and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority at www.fsca.co.za. – SAnews.gov.za
