<\/p>\n
The increases update the maximum policy benefit amounts applying under the regulations and provide insurers, policyholders and other stakeholders with a single public reference for amounts adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Demarcation Regulations were issued under Section 72 of the Long-term Insurance Act of 1998 and Section 70 of the Short-term Insurance Act of 1998.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The regulations determine which contracts are classified as health policies under the Long-term Insurance Act and which contracts qualify as accident and health policies under the Short-term Insurance Act.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Contracts falling under the two categories are excluded from the Medical Schemes Act of 1998.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Regulation 7.2(2) requires all policy benefit amounts covered by the regulations to increase annually from the effective date. The 2026 adjustment is based on SA\u2019s 2025 annual CPI inflation rate of 3.2%, as published by Statistics SA.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
National Treasury said policy benefits would continue increasing annually for as long as Regulation 7.2(2) provided for automatic adjustments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The annual publication of CPI-adjusted amounts is intended to provide clarity and ensure insurers, policyholders and other affected stakeholders apply the updated limits consistently.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The increases affect maximum benefit amounts rather than insurance premiums. Applicable amounts depend on the policy category and benefit covered under the Demarcation Regulations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
National Treasury publishes updated supporting annexures annually, setting out the CPI-adjusted benefit amounts applying during the relevant year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2026 annexures are available on the National Treasury and Financial Sector Conduct Authority websites.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Publication of the revised amounts gives insurers a reference for updating applicable policy benefits while enabling policyholders to understand the maximum limits applying to qualifying health, accident and related insurance products.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Demarcation Regulations provide the legal distinction between insurance products governed by SA\u2019s insurance legislation and medical scheme products regulated under the Medical Schemes Act.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44338,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-44337","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa's (SA) Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, has approved the publication of annual policy benefit increases under the Demarcation Regulations for 2026.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa's (SA) Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, has approved the publication of annual policy benefit increases under the Demarcation Regulations for 2026.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44339,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44337\/revisions\/44339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}