Figure 1

Medical scheme beneficiaries from 1990 to 2010 Data from Council for Medical Schemes’ Annual Reports [29]. The deregulation of 1994 resulted in the movement of beneficiaries from closed schemes to open schemes. The drop in beneficiary growth from 2000 to 2006 resulted from a stagnation of economic growth. From 2006 most beneficiary growth results from the introduction of the Government Employee’s Medical Scheme (GEMS), with some growth also resulting from increased economic growth. The introduction of GEMS, which is a closed scheme, also resulted in a switch away from open commercial schemes.