Discovery Medical aid NON-Disclosure issue

After being a client for over six years, I had the expectation that Discovery Health would be my lifelong medical aid provider. Unfortunately, after adding my son to my scheme, he fell ill and his condition stumped several doctors. After visiting a different hospital for a third opinion, extensive tests were conducted, revealing that my son required grommets due to an undiagnosed issue (initially misdiagnosed as tonsillitis at previous hospitals). This procedure was successfully completed in December 2023, and my son has been in good health since.

However, Discovery initiated an investigation against me and discovered a non-disclosure issue regarding my son's previous visit to the casualty department four months before our application for membership. During this visit, he spent 20 minutes at the hospital and received treatment for a fever, which was diagnosed as signs of tonsillitis by the doctor. Although this visit was not disclosed, it was a consultation without admission to a ward, and we were reassured by the doctor that it was not serious.

I am now faced with a bill of R30,000 from Discovery, in addition to other hospital bills totaling around R70,000, all stemming from a visit to the casualty department for a fever that was not included in the application.

This experience has led me to lose faith in Discovery and its business practices. I will never again conduct any business with Discovery products. I urge all clients to ensure that even the smallest details of previous conditions are disclosed, as my experience has shown that Discovery will use any means to avoid paying legitimate claims