Medical Aid Contribution Tracker
Estimate your monthly medical aid costs and tax credits in South Africa.
Estimated Net Cost
Medical aid, tax credits and the gaps in between
Belonging to a medical scheme in South Africa affects two separate things: what you pay each month, and what you pay in tax. The two are linked through the medical scheme tax credit, a rebate that quietly reduces the income tax deducted from your salary. Understanding both sides helps you judge whether a plan is genuinely affordable.
The medical scheme tax credit
SARS grants a fixed monthly tax credit for medical scheme membership: a set amount for you as the main member, the same amount for your first dependant, and a smaller fixed amount for each additional dependant. It is a credit, not a deduction, so it comes straight off your tax owed rather than off your taxable income - which makes it equally valuable regardless of your tax bracket. The exact rand values are set each tax year in the budget, so confirm the current figures on the SARS website.
Day-to-day cover: MSA, threshold and the gap
Many plans split your contribution into hospital cover and a day-to-day allowance. On savings-style options the day-to-day money flows through three phases over the year:
- Medical Savings Account (MSA): an upfront pot for day-to-day claims like GP visits and medicines. You spend it until it runs out.
- Self-payment gap: once the MSA is empty, you pay day-to-day costs out of pocket until your claims reach the annual threshold.
- Above-threshold benefit: after you cross the threshold, the scheme resumes covering qualifying day-to-day claims for the rest of the year.
The self-payment gap is where families get caught out, so it is worth tracking how fast your savings are depleting.
When out-of-pocket costs are high
If your unrecovered medical expenses are large relative to your income, you may also qualify for the additional medical expenses tax credit, which works on a formula tied to your taxable income (with more generous rules for taxpayers aged 65 and over, or those with a disability). This tracker is a planning aid to estimate contributions and credits; for anything you file, verify the current rates and thresholds with SARS or your scheme.