DISCOVERY REFUSES TO LISTEN TO REASON - RIDICULOUS WAITING PERIOD IMPOSED IN THE MIDDLE OF DENTAL TREATMENT FOR PAIN RELIEF

In October last year my fiance resigned from the company that he was working at to start his own business and in doing so cancelled his membership to Discovery Health. My fiance had been on this particular Discovery Plan for 5 years and I was a dependent on it. Prior to this he had been on a different Discovery plan whilst working at his first job. His company was paying half of his contribution and with his new business venture we knew that money could be tight within the first few months of trading and we did not know if we would be able to afford the entire medical aid contribution as my company does not contribute towards medical aid. Earlier last year before my fiance decided to resign and start his own business, he went for a series of dental treatments including extractions, root canals and fillings due to very severe toothache. This treatment was to (EVENTUALLY) culminate in a set of custom made dentures. In the beginning of this year, whilst we were not on any medical aid, my fiance had toothache again as he had not completed his treatment and he went to the dentist who we paid in cash. In March of this year, after my fiance's business had been operating successfully for 3 months and once we had confirmed that we could in fact afford to pay medical aid, I reapp**** to Discovery, providing them with all of our previous membership information and explaining why we had left and why we had waited 5 months to reapply. I sent in my application form to reapply to Discovery on the 16th of March and I disclosed on my application form that my fiance was undergoing dental treatment that had begun last year when he was a member of Discovery - which they already knew because it would be on record. They then asked what further treatment he required and my fiance had to go back to the dentist so that they could make impressions of his mouth to provide us with a quotation, which we also paid for in cash. After numerous phone calls and emails between myself and Discovery they eventually approved my application on the 30th of April and imposed a 12 month waiting period on my fiance which means that we will have to pay for any further dental treatment in cash until May of next year. I understand that waiting periods are standard protocol but considering the circumstances - which I explained in detail on my application form, in the underwriting documents and to the consultants at the call centre - and considering how long my fiance has been a member of Discovery and that he began this treatment before he knew that he would be leaving his company, I find this waiting period unnecessary and completely ridiculous. The waiting period has not in any way worsened his condition, which I believe could be the reason for such a penalty, as I have been paying cash for treatment required in the interim and there is no additional treatment required that the dentist had not already informed us of last year when we were still on medical aid. I obviously did not expect for Discovery to cover the dentures as they are costly and it would be fine for us to wait a year to purchase these as this is part of the LONG-TERM treatment plan. The other treatment however such as root canals and fillings is necessary NOW and Discovery has prevented my fiance from having either. This means that should we not be able to afford his treatment in cash that he will be in pain and discomfort for AN ENTIRE YEAR and his condition could potentially worsen over such a long period of time and then Discovery will be required to cover this anyway. When I phoned the call centre, explained the entire story, again, and asked if the waiting period could be lifted for only the immediate treatment that is required I was told that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to change it because of the gap in our membership, regardless of the extenuating circumstances. This does not make any sense to me - I do not see why my fiance should be punished for being an entrepreneur. Instead of applying for medical aid straight away and running the risk of not being able to pay at the end of the month we actually did the sensible thing and waited until we were sure we could afford it. And what good has that done us?? Furthermore, although I was obliged to mention on my application form that he was undergoing dental treatment and what was still required I could quite easily have omitted this information and Discovery would have been none the wiser. I could now go and apply at a different medical aid, which will take longer as we don't have the advantage of already being in their records and all the while my fiance and I have no cover should, God forbid, something happen to one of us. So, in doing the right thing, I as the customer have in fact lost and I have also paid money out of my own pocket in order for Discovery to even process my application. This is the first time that I am personally dealing with Discovery I am absolutely disgusted at the customer service before I have even become an official member and also at how Discovery treats their long standing members.