Bonitas principal officer Lee Callakoppen said the industry regulator requires schemes to continuously benchmark their contracts with service providers. Evergreen contracts aren’t in members’ best interests, he said. In anticipation of Medscheme’s five-year contract ending in May, Bonitas issued a request for proposals to assess the services provided by various companies, he said.
“Part of our review process was to extract value for our members in terms of lower non-healthcare costs,” he said. Callakoppen declined to elaborate on the financial aspects of Bonitas’ present contract with Medscheme or the one it is entering into with Momentum. Afrocentric in a statement on Sens shortly after the market closed alerted shareholders to the loss of the Medscheme contracts.
“The group notes that Bonitas has proceeded with the request for proposal award notwithstanding the pending court proceedings, in which Medscheme is seeking relief that directly relates to this process,” the statement reads. “The group will await the outcome of the court process and will provide shareholders with further updates as appropriate.”
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