please do not assume that a preventative colonoscopy / colon cancer screening linked to Vitality points will be fully covered.

I want to warn other Discovery / hospital plan members about a very expensive lesson my husband and I learned through a so-called preventative colon cancer screening journey.

We went for the check partly because of the Vitality incentive, expecting a routine preventative process. Instead, what should have been a positive health decision ended up costing me nearly **R6,000 out of pocket**, including doctor visits, hospital charges, and pathology costs.

The issue only became clear afterwards. I was told:

**“If you were not admitted on the day, it will be considered as casualty. Since you are on a hospital plan, there are no savings to cover casualty.”**

That distinction was never properly explained to us upfront.

At no point were we clearly warned that:

* if the procedure was not treated as an admission, it could be processed as **casualty** * being on a **hospital plan** would leave us exposed to significant out-of-pocket costs * the hospital co-payment would not necessarily cover everything * **pathology / biopsy costs** could become an additional personal expense * GAP cover would not simply pay every amount not covered by the scheme

To make matters worse, the doctors also did not explain the financial implications to us properly beforehand.

So in simple terms: what looked like a preventative health check linked to rewards points turned into a very expensive exercise, with major personal cost, because the actual funding and classification rules were not properly disclosed in a practical way before the procedure.

My complaint is not only about the benefit outcome. My complaint is about the **lack of proper financial-risk disclosure** before we consented.

Patients should be told, in plain language and before the procedure: “What will this be classified as?” “What will my plan actually pay?” “What could I personally be billed for?”

Please, if you are on a hospital plan, do not assume that a day procedure, preventative scope, or Vitality-linked screening means you will be fully covered. Ask for everything in writing first.

I hope this helps other members avoid the same shock we had.