Parmed Medical Scheme
Restricted scheme · For Members of Parliament and parliamentary employees · Administered by Medscheme
Overview
Parmed Medical Scheme (Parmed) is a registered non-profit restricted medical scheme regulated by the Council for Medical Schemes under the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998. The Scheme exists to provide medical cover to Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), parliamentary support staff, and their qualifying dependants.
Parmed is among the smallest registered medical schemes in South Africa by membership — reflecting the finite population of the South African Parliament and its supporting administration. Its small membership base makes it structurally different from large restricted schemes like GEMS or POLMED: the risk pool is narrower, the scheme management is more directly tied to parliamentary budget cycles, and the governance is closely aligned with Parliament's administrative structures.
Medscheme (AfroCentric Group) administers Parmed on behalf of the Board of Trustees, providing managed-care infrastructure, hospital network access, and claims processing. As a Medscheme-administered scheme, Parmed members benefit from Medscheme's national hospital tariff relationships and managed disease programmes.
Parliament as the employing authority contributes toward eligible members' Parmed contributions, substantially reducing the out-of-pocket cost for covered parliamentary employees and elected representatives.
Source: Council for Medical Schemes scheme register; Medscheme administered schemes list; Parliament of South Africa HR benefits documentation.
Membership Profile
Parmed's membership is definitionally limited to the parliamentary community: elected Members of Parliament, members of the National Council of Provinces, and the employees of Parliament's administrative service. This produces an unusually small and homogeneous membership base by medical scheme standards — likely fewer than 10,000 beneficiaries in total, though exact figures are not publicly disclosed in current materials.
The membership profile reflects the parliamentary demographic: a mix of elected representatives (who may serve fixed terms and rotate out of Parliament), career parliamentary staff, and their dependants. MPs tend to be middle-aged to older adults with a diverse range of health needs. Parliamentary staff, by contrast, mirror a typical professional-service employer demographic.
Parmed's small size creates inherent vulnerability to adverse claims years — a single high-cost member event (e.g. a complex oncology case) can have a measurable impact on the Scheme's claims ratio. This is a standard risk factor for all small medical schemes and is mitigated through conservative reserving and reinsurance arrangements where applicable.
Source: CMS scheme register; Parliament HR benefits documentation.
Financial Health
Parmed is required to maintain a statutory solvency ratio of at least 25% under Regulation 29(2) of the Medical Schemes Act, consistent with all registered South African medical schemes. As a small scheme, its solvency ratio can be more volatile than larger schemes — a single exceptional year of high claims can reduce reserves meaningfully, while a favourable year restores them. The CMS monitors Parmed as part of its industry-wide solvency surveillance programme.
Parliament as employer also contributes toward eligible members' contributions, which provides a degree of financial stability and reduces the risk of adverse selection (members leaving when healthy). The parliamentary employer subsidy structure means that Parmed does not depend solely on member-paid contributions for its premium base.
Detailed financial statements — solvency ratio, accumulated funds, net claims ratio — are submitted to the CMS and available in published annual reports. Prospective members or advisors seeking precise figures should consult the most recent published annual report or the CMS scheme statistics database at medicalschemes.co.za.
Source: CMS Industry Report 2024; Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998, Reg. 29(2); medicalschemes.co.za scheme statistics.
Plans & Options
Parmed offers a tiered range of benefit options covering entry-level, mid-tier, and comprehensive cover, designed to serve the range of parliamentary employees and elected representatives. Parliament as employer contributes a portion of contributions for eligible members, making the effective member cost lower than the headline contribution rate. Exact plan names, benefit details, and 2026 contribution rates are set out in the Parmed member guide and available through the parliamentary HR administration.
| Plan tier | Category | Network model | Key feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry option | Hospital-focused | DSP / Medscheme network | In-hospital + 27 PMB CDL conditions; lowest contributions |
| Mid-tier option | Hospital + day-to-day | Network-based | Structured day-to-day; GP access; chronic cover |
| Comprehensive option | Comprehensive | Hybrid / any-provider | Broad day-to-day; extended chronic list; specialist access; suitable for MPs and senior staff |
Source: CMS scheme register; Medscheme administered schemes; Parliament HR benefits.
Key Benefits & Differentiators
Parliamentary employer subsidy. Parliament as the employing authority contributes toward eligible members' contributions. This substantially reduces the effective member cost and provides a baseline subsidy that makes comprehensive cover accessible to parliamentary staff across income levels.
Medscheme managed-care infrastructure. Through its Medscheme administrator, Parmed members access one of South Africa's largest hospital tariff networks, electronic pre-authorisation, pharmacist-managed formularies, and disease management programmes. As a small scheme, Parmed benefits from Medscheme's pooled negotiating power with hospital groups and specialists.
PMB and chronic disease compliance. All Parmed plans cover the 27 Prescribed Minimum Benefit Chronic Disease List conditions at legislated cost. The mid-tier and comprehensive options extend to a broader chronic list, managed via Medscheme's structured disease management programmes for conditions including hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and HIV/AIDS.
Continuity across parliamentary terms. Elected MPs serve terms and may not return to Parliament. Parmed's continuation-member provisions allow qualifying former members to remain on the Scheme after their parliamentary service ends, subject to Scheme Rule conditions — an important feature for elected representatives transitioning out of public office.
Specialist and hospital access in Cape Town and Pretoria. Parliamentary activity is concentrated in Cape Town (National Assembly, NCOP) and Pretoria (executive). Parmed's benefit design and hospital network access reflect this geographic concentration, with strong coverage in the Western Cape and Gauteng private hospital network.
Source: CMS scheme register; Medscheme managed-care overview; Parliament HR benefits documentation.
Wellness & Loyalty
Parmed includes preventive-care wellness benefits on all plans, administered through Medscheme's wellness platform. Members have access to annual health screenings, chronic condition management support, and disease management programmes as part of the standard benefit package.
Parmed does not operate a standalone consumer wellness rewards programme. The wellness offering is structured around standard preventive and disease management priorities, appropriate to a small professional workforce with standard health needs.
Source: Medscheme wellness platform; Parliament HR benefits documentation.
Claims & Service
Claims are administered by Medscheme via electronic provider submissions, the Medscheme member portal and app, and manual submission channels. Medscheme's national call centre handles member queries, pre-authorisation requests, and claims enquiries for Parmed members.
Dispute resolution follows the Medical Schemes Act process: internal dispute committee → CMS adjudication for unresolved matters. Members may also raise benefit disputes through Parliament's HR administrative channel as a first point of contact.
Source: Medscheme contact information; Parliament HR administration.
How the Scheme Is Set Up
Parmed is structurally available only to Members of Parliament, members of the National Council of Provinces, parliamentary employees, and their qualifying dependants.
Parliamentary support staff (entry and mid-tier plans): Parliamentary administrative, research, and support staff benefit from the employer subsidy that reduces the effective premium, making the entry and mid-tier options affordable across a wide salary range. Hospital cover and structured day-to-day benefits on the mid-tier plan provide a practical balance of protection and cost.
Members of Parliament and senior staff (comprehensive option): Elected representatives and senior parliamentary officials require broad benefit coverage — including specialist access, comprehensive chronic disease management, and high annual limits. The comprehensive option, with the employer subsidy reducing net cost, provides this breadth at a competitive effective premium.
Transitioning or former MPs: Former MPs who qualify as continuation members should evaluate whether Parmed's continuation terms — including cost without the parliamentary employer subsidy — remain competitive relative to open-scheme alternatives after leaving Parliament.
Source: CMS scheme register; Parliament HR benefits; Medscheme administered schemes.
Eligibility & Continuation
Who can join: Eligibility is restricted to Members of Parliament (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), employees of the Parliamentary Service (as defined in the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act and related legislation), and their qualifying dependants.
Parliamentary employer subsidy: Parliament as employer contributes toward eligible members' contributions. The amount depends on the member's employment category (elected representative vs. parliamentary employee) and applicable HR policy. Members should confirm their applicable subsidy with the parliamentary HR administration before selecting a plan option.
On leaving Parliament: MPs who do not return to Parliament after an election, or parliamentary employees who resign or retire, lose active membership eligibility. Continuation-member provisions under the Parmed Scheme Rules apply for qualifying former members (typically those with sufficient years of service or who reach retirement age). Non-qualifying leavers must transfer to an open medical scheme within the Medical Schemes Act's portability period.
Portability protection: Members transferring to an open scheme after leaving Parmed are protected by the Medical Schemes Act's portability provisions — existing conditions cannot be subject to new waiting periods under the receiving scheme.
Dependants: Qualifying dependants (spouse/life partner and dependent children as defined in the Parmed Scheme Rules) remain on Parmed while the principal member is enrolled. On the principal member's death, continuation rules govern the surviving spouse's and children's ongoing cover.
Source: CMS scheme register; Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998; Parliament HR benefits administration.