A 'Late joiner' is an applicant or the adult dependant of an applicant who, at the date of application for membership or admission as a dependant, as the case may be, is thirty five years of age or older but excludes beneficiaries who enjoyed coverage with one or more medical schemes as from a date preceding 1 April 2001, without a break in coverage exceeding three consecutive months since 1 April 2001.
Premium penalties may be applied to a late joiner. Such penalties shall be applied only to that portion of the contribution relative to the late joiner and shall not exceed the following bands:
Penalty Bands Maximum Penalty
| 1 - 4 years - |
0.05 x contribution |
| 5 - 14 years - |
0.25 x contribution |
| 15 - 24 years - |
0.50 x contribution |
| 25 years + |
0.75 x contribution |
The following formula shall be applied to determine the applicable penalty band:
A = B minus (35 + C) where:
A = number of years to determine appropriate penalty band
B = age of the late joiner at time of application
C = number of years of creditable coverage which can be demonstrated
Should a late joiner penalty already have been imposed and evidence of creditable coverage is produced thereafter, the penalty shall be recalculated and such revised penalty shall be applied from the time that such evidence was provided.
If an applicant is unable to obtain documentary proof to substantiate periods of creditable coverage, he/she shall be entitled to produce a sworn affidavit declaring such detailed information and that reasonable efforts to obtain documentary evidence of such periods of creditable coverage were unsuccessful.
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