The Devil we Know

After pre-authorizing a procedure 10 days in advance, I was admitted into hospital and it wasn’t until 2 days after the scheduled date and the R70,000+ hospital and specialist bill was accrued that Discovery decided to conduct an investigation that lead to them declining to pay the bill. Further to this, they concocted a convoluted string of “justifications” and decided to kick me off of the policy, too. I think that they believe the “backdated” premiums of circa R9k will make a difference to the situation that they have left me in. I am now in debt, medically uninsured and forced to pursue the disputes process to gain some satisfaction over the situation. Of the 30 days SLA for disputes, they used nearly every day available to them and are intent on dragging this out - meanwhile I have debt collectors coming after me. They are hiding behind a technicality that amounts to 9 days between full disclosure and non-disclosure, a technicality that I have successfully defended. Nevertheless, I am going to be approaching the ombudsman and am simply disgusted at how these companies operate, furnished with the most exciting rewards programs which serve only to distract the end consumer from the fact that when push comes to shove... you’ll be paying twice as many bills as you had before!