Based on recent customer reviews, Polmed is drawing sustained criticism from long-standing SAPS members and healthcare providers. Recurring grievances centre on declined or partially paid claims, particularly radiology, X-rays and sonars on the Aquarium option, plus lengthy waits for prosthesis and transplant authorisations. Members report ICD-10 and PMB coding disputes, unexpected co-payments, upfront payment demands, inaccurate benefit portal information and membership termination errors. Email queries reportedly attract generic responses and query numbers rather than resolution. One member praised a consultant named Sabie for compassionate, informative and professional assistance.
Replied to 92% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 16h 57m
TrustIndex
2.6
Ranking
#42
in Health & Medical
Reply Time
16h 17m
NPS Score
-28
Recommended: Unlikely
Replied to 92% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 16h 57m
Oct '25 - Sep '26
Frequently Asked Questions About Polmed
What do customers say about Polmed?
Based on recent customer reviews, Polmed is drawing sustained criticism from long-standing SAPS members and healthcare providers. Recurring grievances centre on declined or partially paid claims, particularly radiology, X-rays and sonars on the Aquarium option, plus lengthy waits for prosthesis and transplant authorisations. Members report ICD-10 and PMB coding disputes, unexpected co-payments, upfront payment demands, inaccurate benefit portal information and membership termination errors. Email queries reportedly attract generic responses and query numbers rather than resolution. One member praised a consultant named Sabie for compassionate, informative and professional assistance.
Is Polmed trustworthy?
Polmed has a TrustIndex of 2.6 out of 10 on Hellopeter, based on 25 reviews in the last 12 months. They reply to 92% of negative reviews, typically within 16 hours 57 min. Hellopeter has tracked Polmed across 236 total reviews. How is the TrustIndex calculated? →
Recent reviews (25)
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Share Your Experience1 reviews | Active since Feb 2021
POLMED – FROM A MEDICAL AID WE COULD TRUST TO A CONSTANT BATTLE FOR CARE
I have been a POLMED member for many years, and I never thought I would reach the point where I would describe my experience with POLMED as a constant battle to obtain medically necessary care. I have one simple question for the POLMED Board and those responsible for managing the scheme: How did we get here? A few months ago, my doctor referred me to a urologist because of a medical condition. After examining me, the urologist determined that I required surgery urgently. I followed the specialist's advice and underwent the procedure and hospitalisation. POLMED approved and paid for the surgery and hospitalisation. But here is where I simply cannot understand POLMED's approach. After the operation, I was placed on medication and instructed by the specialist that my condition must be monitored. I was told that I need follow-up consultations approximately every six months to determine how my condition is progressing and whether I will require another operation in the future. Yet POLMED is now refusing to pay for the specialist follow-up consultation required to monitor the condition and determine whether further surgery will be necessary. Read that again. POLMED paid for the operation. POLMED paid for the hospitalisation. But now POLMED does not want to pay for the specialist to monitor the condition after that operation and determine whether another operation will be required. I have also experienced problems with POLMED paying for the medication related to my condition. How is this supposed to make sense? If a specialist says a patient requires follow-up monitoring after surgery, how can that follow-up simply be treated as though it is unrelated or unnecessary? Are members expected to wait until their condition deteriorates to the point where another hospital admission or operation becomes unavoidable before POLMED is prepared to pay? This is exactly what frustrates me about the direction POLMED appears to have taken. I remember POLMED as a medical aid where members could have confidence that their healthcare needs would be taken seriously. Today, it feels completely different. Members are increasingly left fighting over authorisations, consultations, medication and benefits while trying to deal with their medical problems at the same time. I want to ask the POLMED Board directly: Who is POLMED being managed for? Is it still being managed primarily with the health and wellbeing of its members in mind, or has financial cost-cutting become the dominant consideration? I understand that a medical scheme has rules, benefits and financial responsibilities. I am not asking POLMED to pay for unnecessary treatment. I am asking why a medically necessary follow-up consultation, directly connected to a procedure POLMED already approved and paid for, is now being refused when that consultation is needed to determine whether I will require further surgery. This is not simply about one consultation. It is about the principle. Members pay their contributions month after month because they expect their medical aid to be there when they need medical care. A medical aid should not only pay when a patient is lying in a hospital bed. It should also support the follow-up care, monitoring and treatment required after that hospitalisation. POLMED was once a medical aid that many of us could depend on. My recent experience has left me asking what happened to that POLMED. To the POLMED Board: How did we go from there to here? Because from where I am standing, the member is no longer feeling like the priority. After years of contributing to POLMED, I should not have to fight my medical aid for the specialist follow-up required to monitor a condition for which POLMED has already approved and paid for surgery. POLMED, I am asking you to seriously reconsider how you are treating your members. Healthcare should come before bureaucracy and cost-cutting.
1 reviews | Active since Feb 2021
POLMED – FROM A MEDICAL AID WE COULD TRUST TO A CONSTANT BATTLE FOR CARE
I have been a POLMED member for many years, and I never thought I would reach the point where I would describe my experience with POLMED as a constant battle to obtain medically necessary care. I have one simple question for the POLMED Board and those responsible for managing the scheme: How did we get here? A few months ago, my doctor referred me to a urologist because of a medical condition. After examining me, the urologist determined that I required surgery urgently. I followed the specialist's advice and underwent the procedure and hospitalisation. POLMED approved and paid for the surgery and hospitalisation. But here is where I simply cannot understand POLMED's approach. After the operation, I was placed on medication and instructed by the specialist that my condition must be monitored. I was told that I need follow-up consultations approximately every six months to determine how my condition is progressing and whether I will require another operation in the future. Yet POLMED is now refusing to pay for the specialist follow-up consultation required to monitor the condition and determine whether further surgery will be necessary. Read that again. POLMED paid for the operation. POLMED paid for the hospitalisation. But now POLMED does not want to pay for the specialist to monitor the condition after that operation and determine whether another operation will be required. I have also experienced problems with POLMED paying for the medication related to my condition. How is this supposed to make sense? If a specialist says a patient requires follow-up monitoring after surgery, how can that follow-up simply be treated as though it is unrelated or unnecessary? Are members expected to wait until their condition deteriorates to the point where another hospital admission or operation becomes unavoidable before POLMED is prepared to pay? This is exactly what frustrates me about the direction POLMED appears to have taken. I remember POLMED as a medical aid where members could have confidence that their healthcare needs would be taken seriously. Today, it feels completely different. Members are increasingly left fighting over authorisations, consultations, medication and benefits while trying to deal with their medical problems at the same time. I want to ask the POLMED Board directly: Who is POLMED being managed for? Is it still being managed primarily with the health and wellbeing of its members in mind, or has financial cost-cutting become the dominant consideration? I understand that a medical scheme has rules, benefits and financial responsibilities. I am not asking POLMED to pay for unnecessary treatment. I am asking why a medically necessary follow-up consultation, directly connected to a procedure POLMED already approved and paid for, is now being refused when that consultation is needed to determine whether I will require further surgery. This is not simply about one consultation. It is about the principle. Members pay their contributions month after month because they expect their medical aid to be there when they need medical care. A medical aid should not only pay when a patient is lying in a hospital bed. It should also support the follow-up care, monitoring and treatment required after that hospitalisation. POLMED was once a medical aid that many of us could depend on. My recent experience has left me asking what happened to that POLMED. To the POLMED Board: How did we go from there to here? Because from where I am standing, the member is no longer feeling like the priority. After years of contributing to POLMED, I should not have to fight my medical aid for the specialist follow-up required to monitor a condition for which POLMED has already approved and paid for surgery. POLMED, I am asking you to seriously reconsider how you are treating your members. Healthcare should come before bureaucracy and cost-cutting.
1 reviews | Active since Apr 2025
Polmed Breached Its Own Certificate
I am writing this to express my absolute frustration and anger at the appalling service and complete lack of accountability from Polmed. I resigned from the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 3 June 2026. Following my resignation, Polmed was officially informed and subsequently issued a formal Medical Aid Membership Certificate explicitly stating that my cover would be terminated on 31 July 2026. Based on this official documentation, I coordinated a seamless transition to my new medical aid provider, Discovery Health, submitting the certificate so that my new cover would commence on 1 August 2026. This was done to ensure I had zero gap in medical cover. However, on 13 July 2026, Polmed unilaterally and without warning decided to terminate my membership weeks ahead of the promised date. By pulling the plug early, you have left me entirely uncovered and exposed to severe medical and financial risk for the remainder of July, as Discovery is only scheduled to activate in August. To make matters worse, trying to resolve this with your customer service is an exercise in futility. Every time I email Polmed to get this rectified, I am met with automated, generic, copy-paste responses that completely ignore the actual problem. There is no human element, no critical thinking, and absolutely no urgency to fix a life-threatening administrative blunder that you created. I feel deeply sorry for our active police officers who are subjected to using this medical aid. Because Polmed holds a complete monopoly, our dedicated men and women in blue have absolutely no other choice but to deal with this subpar service. It is incredibly unfair to those who put their lives on the line daily to be treated with such administrative disregard.
1 reviews | Active since Apr 2025
Polmed Breached Its Own Certificate
I am writing this to express my absolute frustration and anger at the appalling service and complete lack of accountability from Polmed. I resigned from the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 3 June 2026. Following my resignation, Polmed was officially informed and subsequently issued a formal Medical Aid Membership Certificate explicitly stating that my cover would be terminated on 31 July 2026. Based on this official documentation, I coordinated a seamless transition to my new medical aid provider, Discovery Health, submitting the certificate so that my new cover would commence on 1 August 2026. This was done to ensure I had zero gap in medical cover. However, on 13 July 2026, Polmed unilaterally and without warning decided to terminate my membership weeks ahead of the promised date. By pulling the plug early, you have left me entirely uncovered and exposed to severe medical and financial risk for the remainder of July, as Discovery is only scheduled to activate in August. To make matters worse, trying to resolve this with your customer service is an exercise in futility. Every time I email Polmed to get this rectified, I am met with automated, generic, copy-paste responses that completely ignore the actual problem. There is no human element, no critical thinking, and absolutely no urgency to fix a life-threatening administrative blunder that you created. I feel deeply sorry for our active police officers who are subjected to using this medical aid. Because Polmed holds a complete monopoly, our dedicated men and women in blue have absolutely no other choice but to deal with this subpar service. It is incredibly unfair to those who put their lives on the line daily to be treated with such administrative disregard.
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2022
Lack of service with pre-authorisation renewal
I've attempted numerous times since January 2026 to renew the dates on an existing authorisation. It is July already. After spending 1hour and 4minutes on the phone with Polmed, during which I was transferred to the "case manager", just to end up with another consultant to who had to explain the whole issue AGAIN, twice. Then whilst on hold, I was hung up on with no resolution. This authorisation is for a transplant and is renewed every year since 2020 while we await for an organ to become available. It has become increasingly difficult to renew the authorisation, even with all the documentation and motivations required every year, as if I don't have enough emotional pressure waiting for a donor. It is rather disappointing and worrying how the level of compassion and competency of POLMED have declined.
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2022
Lack of service with pre-authorisation renewal
I've attempted numerous times since January 2026 to renew the dates on an existing authorisation. It is July already. After spending 1hour and 4minutes on the phone with Polmed, during which I was transferred to the "case manager", just to end up with another consultant to who had to explain the whole issue AGAIN, twice. Then whilst on hold, I was hung up on with no resolution. This authorisation is for a transplant and is renewed every year since 2020 while we await for an organ to become available. It has become increasingly difficult to renew the authorisation, even with all the documentation and motivations required every year, as if I don't have enough emotional pressure waiting for a donor. It is rather disappointing and worrying how the level of compassion and competency of POLMED have declined.
1 reviews | Active since Sept 2013
LONG OVERDUE PROSTHETIC REQUEST
On 10 June 2026 we submitted an authorisation request to them for a patient to receive her first prosthesis. On 12 June 2026 we received an email back requesting two cheape quotation to assist the patient. Firstly this is a PMB condition so there is NO co-payment for the patient. We did however send two comparesing quotation to them on 18 June 2026. Every time we query the status of this request we are told it is with the Medical Adviser. It is now 16 July 2026 and we have not received any feedback. It is unacceptable that we and the patient must wait so long for any feedback. REF NO: 100626QMFWV4
1 reviews | Active since Sept 2013
LONG OVERDUE PROSTHETIC REQUEST
On 10 June 2026 we submitted an authorisation request to them for a patient to receive her first prosthesis. On 12 June 2026 we received an email back requesting two cheape quotation to assist the patient. Firstly this is a PMB condition so there is NO co-payment for the patient. We did however send two comparesing quotation to them on 18 June 2026. Every time we query the status of this request we are told it is with the Medical Adviser. It is now 16 July 2026 and we have not received any feedback. It is unacceptable that we and the patient must wait so long for any feedback. REF NO: 100626QMFWV4
1 reviews | Active since Jun 2026
Sabie was very...und...
Sabie was very...understanding...compassionate.. emphatic....informative..kindness...attentive...she really helped me and insure that she will be there throughout my journey...she was professional while friendly
1 reviews | Active since Jun 2026
Sabie was very...und...
Sabie was very...understanding...compassionate.. emphatic....informative..kindness...attentive...she really helped me and insure that she will be there throughout my journey...she was professional while friendly
1 reviews | Active since Apr 2025
Poor policies causing wasteful expenditure
As a member since 1987, I have seen "some" good service from Polmed, but unfortunately, like now, I have seen the worst! This time it's about poor policies(according to me) that regulate member's activities, eg. for a specialist visit I need a GP referral authorization number, which entails, the GP must phone Polmed for such a number when referring myself for specialist treatment, prior to such a visit. Unfortunately my Gp till covid, deserted me(us) because he insisted on vaccination, thus, for me, no Gp currently(praise God since then). Upon my question that if there's no sickness or pain, just a need for a referral number, do Polmed insist on a GP consultation for payment, to get such number, the answer was emphatically, "YES". So from this I gather, that even though the focus is on saving to protect the Medical aid, Polmed don't really care, that's why a 2 minute paid-visit to a GP for a referral number is compulsory! This definitely falls under miss-management and wasteful expenditure! I guess not everyone share the need to contribute to the continued existence of Polmed, definitely not policy makers.
1 reviews | Active since Apr 2025
Poor policies causing wasteful expenditure
As a member since 1987, I have seen "some" good service from Polmed, but unfortunately, like now, I have seen the worst! This time it's about poor policies(according to me) that regulate member's activities, eg. for a specialist visit I need a GP referral authorization number, which entails, the GP must phone Polmed for such a number when referring myself for specialist treatment, prior to such a visit. Unfortunately my Gp till covid, deserted me(us) because he insisted on vaccination, thus, for me, no Gp currently(praise God since then). Upon my question that if there's no sickness or pain, just a need for a referral number, do Polmed insist on a GP consultation for payment, to get such number, the answer was emphatically, "YES". So from this I gather, that even though the focus is on saving to protect the Medical aid, Polmed don't really care, that's why a 2 minute paid-visit to a GP for a referral number is compulsory! This definitely falls under miss-management and wasteful expenditure! I guess not everyone share the need to contribute to the continued existence of Polmed, definitely not policy makers.