Comparing South Africa’s Medical Aid rewards programmes

Medical aid reward programs aren’t just there to get your free smoothies and discounts on flights (though those are definite perks). They’re a way for medical aid companies to encourage you to stay healthy. Healthier members usually result in fewer claims, so it’s a win-win for both parties.

Discovery Health and Momentum Health are two of the biggest medical aid schemes in South Africa, and both offer rewards programmes (or a wellness programme, in Discovery’s case). We do an ultimate comparison between the two, below:

Discovery Vitality vs Momentum Multiply Premier: The Basics

First off, how do each of them work?

Both Vitality and Multiply have five rewards levels. Members begin with zero points each year and work to reach the highest level by performing certain activities.

This includes things like going to the gym, completing a fitness assessment, or getting a flu vaccine. In most instances, Multiply awards a higher proportion of the total points required to members for completing tasks than Discovery.

For example, if you ‘Have an Active Day’ with Momentum (i.e. go to the gym or complete a fitness assessment), you’ll earn 80 points. With Discovery, a gym visit will earn 100 points. However, single members need only 750 points to reach the top level on Multiply, but 50,000 to do the same with Vitality.

There’s also a difference in who can earn points. On Multiply, only the main member and one other member need to earn points. With Vitality, every member over the age of 18 must earn points. Plus, if you have more than two adult dependants, each additional dependant can earn only 25,000 points per year.

Multiply changed its reward-level structure in 2024 and has yet to release the information on how many points an individual needs to qualify for the various tiers.