Discovery robbing customers blind!

I am completely horrified by how Discovery treats clients, especially on their low income offerings, Keycare options. I referred my parents and my cousin with her baby to Discovery Keycare as both families have fallen on really hard times but I wanted to ensure that they still have medical cover as this has become a necessity these days. My cousins chosen doctor does not dispense any antibiotics without penicillin even though we clearly indicated on her application that she is allergic to penicillin. This means that she has to pay out of pocket for obtaining antibiotics without penicillin whenever she needs antibiotics, an expense which she can ill afford. In addition this specific in network doctors consulting rooms are never clean or maintained so posses a health risk concern, especially when she needs to take her small child to the doctor. They called in to the Discovery call centre and spoke to Urisha on 22 February 2019 to request a change-over of doctor. They were advised to send a letter requesting the change of GP. The letter was mailed on 24 Feb 2019 with a request that confirmation of the change be notified to them via return mail. To date they have not even received a response to this request from Discovery. When my mother called in yesterday to address issues she is having with their Discovery keycare plus option she enquired as to the delay with my cousins request and was informed by Beverley that if the mail does not come from the members own mail address the queries are just ignored. How absolutely pathetic and unacceptable is that for a service provider?

My parents received a mail from Discovery Keycare recently requesting a proof of income statement from my Mother who is the main member. My mother requested this from her broker and duly forwarded the document onto Discovery as requested.

An additional request from Discovery followed on 20 March 2019 for a KIV form completion as well as proof of spouses income & 3 months bank statements. This was sent to Discovery on 22 March 2019. Yesterday, 4 April 2019 Discovery Keycare health deducted a premium from my mothers banking account for their medical which was more than double the premium she has been paying since January 2019. Discovery did not send any notifications or explanations of this change to my parents and nobody from Discovery called my parents to discuss this change prior to deducting this ridiculous premium. My mother called Discovery's call centre and held on for 34 minutes before she could finally speak to a consultant, Beverley who was clearly not aware that she was talking to a client and treated my mother without compassion or respect. Beverley told my mother Discovery automatically deducts adjusted premiums (without notifying the customer) if all required documentation is not received timeously. My parents comp**** with requests for document submission within 2 days of receiving said requests. Discovery themselves has a disclaimer indicating they will take 5-7 working days to respond to customer queries so how is the same courtesy not extended to the client? My mother asked on several occasions to speak to a Supervisor but was told Beverley could not give direct numbers and that she would raise the complaint herself on behalf of my mother and get a senior manager to contact my mother back. When my mother spoke to me lastnight nobody from Discovery had contacted her to give decent feedback and help resolve the frustration she is dealing with due to Discovery's ********* actions. My mother also asked Beverley why it is that she has to keep paying in for medicine when her meds are being prescribed by a Discovery network doctor. Beverley said it was not Discovery's issue if the dispensing in network doctor was issuing medication that does not form part of the Discovery approved list. Surely one of the reasons one is part of a network is to ensure that those who can ill afford the extra expenses are prescribed medication wherever possible which falls within medical cover and for the rare instances where this is not possible this should be communicated to the patient prior to issuing the script as a responsible in network supplier of Discovery? Beverley's absolute disregard for how stressful this situation was to my mother, her client is absolutely unacceptable to me as this should not be how one wants your company to be represented? I hope that Discovery will do the ethical thing and contact me to ensure that the two serious matters above are addressed and resolved effectively or I will be escalating same to the Ombudsman. Discovery is quick to deduct premiums, increase premiums at will without notifying clients and then to not provide a covered service when members need their medicals they pay for to work for them. In my opinion Discovery is preying on the poor by robbing them blind of money they can ill afford to pay and then not even covering for the basic needs or requirements. I would be absolutely ashamed to be associated with this organization after the way my mother has been treated and if I am not contacted by Monday to discuss and resolve these matters I too will be removing myself from Discovery and advising everyone I know to do the same. Ps. my organization has many employees currently with Discovery and that can quickly be changed.