Discovery Health farce

Discovery health pride themselves on offering award winning products but having products and be able to manage them properly make a world of difference to the uninformed policy holder.

My own experience when confronted with a severe pain in the chest abroad and then having to fail to get any assistance from Discovery Health although contacted immediately, is reason for serious doubt about the value of product that you pay for and when in crisis, cannot rely on.

Upfront cash payment of BWP50 000 was the only option to be admitted to the heart unit in Gaborone’s Bokamoso Private Hospital, as the customer services desk at Discovery Health were not able to assist me to access medical services. Not knowing if the chest pain was simply bad indigestion or demanded a heart transplant and then burdened with the additional worry of possible financial ruin, if the insurance you have does not assist you, makes a mockery of the idea that health insurance should comfort you.

Four days, it took Discovery to convene a “board” that sits on these decisions (24/7), four days that could lead to death. Four days with no contact from Discovery to report on progress, four days of total lack of consideration of their member and a patient, four days of only playing the money game.

Discovery Health might win many more awards for products that they develop and lure uninformed members of the public to join the thousands that already pay for products that in actual fact give them not the comfort and assurance of any assistance when in need of medical help.

If I did not have the BWP50000 handy, (as many people might not have at 02:00 in the morning in a strange country!) I would surely have had much more severe health problems.

I had to save myself and could not rely on the omnipresence of Discovery Health and their boasting of being one of the best.