Watch out if you have a Dischem Health plan

Yesterday my son had to be picked up from school in Claremont and taken to a hospital to treat an injury. Having signed up with the much advertised Dischem Health Extended Accident plan backed by Kaelo Healthcare a few months ago, i quickly tried to open the Discovery Health mobile App. Which would not open. I called their contact centre where a n agent informed me she would escalate my issue. I enquired about the nearest facility to take my son, and was told that Melomed Tokai and Constantia Mediclinic among others were the nearest emergency rooms “ in our network”. When my wife got to Constantia though the admissions staff had never heard of Dischem Health. So on my wife rushed with our injured boy to Tokai. At the Melomed Tokai hospital emergency room the staff had heard of this medical insurance company, but were kind enough to check with their management. Before too saying they are not affiliated with Dischem Health. It is difficult to describe how shocked I was. To have been debited monthly for a service that does not exist. Honestly, as a parent who could not sort out my child’s pain this was nightmarish. I nevertheless asked my family to wait in the car outside Melomed while I sorted out this “mistake”. After trying all sorts of “Press 1” options, I eventually got through to the same agent ( maybe the only call-centre agent) who had provided my with the names of hospitals in their network to which I could rush my child. She then obviously started stalking, asking if I was in Richard’s Bay, where in Cape Town Melomed Tokai was, and over and over requesting my details. Then she insisted that “when they say they don’t deal with Dischem Health, you must phone us so whomever can give them an authorisation number!” A facility that doesn’t have any arrangement with Dischem Health !? All I can say while remaining polite, is that Nigerian 419 ****s come to mind. Where by the time the alarm is raised enough people have been taken for a ride.