Spectramed

Spectramed, a private health assurer/medical aid (‘fund’), had been operating for more than 60 years, from 1957 to 2018, when it merged with Resolution Health to form Health Squared in 2019. At its peak in 2012, Spectramed had achieved several milestones, including transitioning from a closed fund to an open fund, achieving record growth and generating annual revenues in excess of R1.5 billion, all whilst dilligently serving the healthcare funding needs of over 72,000 families and 210,000 beneficiaries. Regrettably this rapid growth resulted in a failure of the legislated 25% solvency test at the end of 2007. Despite its adoption of an industry first hybrid (in/outsourcing) operating model and the successful and publicly acclaimed turnaround of the fund from 2008 to 2012, Spectramed encountered obstacles in its growth trajectory. The fund failed to secure the Regulator’s support for a merger with Liberty Health in 2013 due principally, to multiple objections from competitors and BBBEE transformation regimes. Spectramed followed with major structural reforms from 2014 to 2018, including the replacement of its longstanding Board, abandonment of the hybrid operating and in-house sales models, and a return to a fully outsourced administrator. At the end of 2018, Spectramed and Resolution Health with the support of the Regulator announced their merger, forming a new fund called Health Squared in 2019. This signalled an end to Spectramed’s rich 63-year history, with all remaining intellectual property transferred to the new fund, or the contracted administrator, Agility Health. Health Squared operated for a further 4-years from 2019 to 2022 under direction of its new Board. Unfortunately, the fund announced its voluntary liquidation during Q3-2022, citing the adverse effects of COVID-19 and an inability to grow in a highly contested market. E&OE