Insurance & Medical Aid · Support
Bonitas Authorisation Contact Details
All Insurance & Medical Aid contactsComplaints & escalation
Bonitas Medical Fund requires authorisation before a hospital admission or certain procedures. The contact details below were read from the Bonitas support page on 2 September 2026.
Task scope
Hospital authorisation – often called pre-authorisation – is the scheme’s approval for planned or emergency hospital treatment. Without it a claim can be reduced or rejected, even where the member is otherwise fully covered.
Route
- Hospital authorisations: 0860 002 108, hospital@bonitas.co.za
- General queries: 0860 002 108, queries@bonitas.co.za
- WhatsApp: 076 172 3151
- Ambulance: 0860 555 505
- Online: the Bonitas app and member portal
Authorisations and general queries share the same number, 0860 002 108 – what separates them is the mailbox. Send an authorisation request to hospital@bonitas.co.za, not queries@, or it joins the general queue.
Bonitas publishes separate contact sets for its BonCap and BonCore plans, distinct from all other plans. Check which set applies to your option before calling.
Requirements
Have the membership number, the treating doctor’s practice number, the hospital, the procedure or ICD-10 code and the admission date. Authorisation is granted against a specific procedure at a specific facility – changing either usually needs a new authorisation.
For the ambulance line, Bonitas asks specifically for your name, telephone number and medical aid number. Knowing that in advance matters, because the call is made under pressure.
An authorisation number is not a guarantee of payment in full. Benefits remain subject to your plan limits, and a shortfall can still arise where a provider charges above scheme rates.
Steps
For planned admission, obtain authorisation before the date – schemes generally require it in advance. For an emergency, treatment happens first, but the admission must still be reported, normally within a short window such as the next working day. Ring as soon as you can and record the authorisation number.
Keep the authorisation number with the hospital paperwork – it is the reference every subsequent claim query turns on.
Escalation
Bonitas publishes a formal dispute resolution process in its legal section, alongside its scheme rules, and a separate route to report fraud, waste and abuse.
Note the scheme’s own caveat: where the brochure, the website and the Scheme Rules disagree, the Scheme Rules prevail. Ask for the rule relied on in writing if an authorisation is declined – that is the document a dispute is decided on.
If the scheme does not resolve it, a medical scheme member may take the matter to the Council for Medical Schemes, the statutory regulator, at no cost. Members are entitled to prescribed minimum benefits regardless of plan, and a PMB condition declined for want of authorisation is a legitimate ground for that escalation.
Sources
- bonitas.co.za support page, read 2 September 2026