The tactics Discovery Medical Aid uses to get out of paying .

I joined the medical aid recently after switching from another medical aid. I recieved a membership certificate stating that there are no exclusions or waiting period and cover starts immediately. Unfortunately a few days ago my son fell ill and we took him to the Network hospital as per hospital list. It was confirmed that he had menengitis but after the first day I'm hospital we were told they are not covering the admission. The excuse. They first need the doctor to sign a medical assessment to confirm that this is not a existing condition...understandable. Well this apparently happens when you are on the medical aid for less than 12 months and approval takes 5 to 8 working days. So here we are in a private hospital with a membership certificate confirming that its active but no cover. The doctor filled in the forms requested over 3 times. They stated that they needed to call me to go over some things in order to request approval. Well here's the fun part...the agent calls you and drops the line. This happened over 7 times. They then request you to phone them back but never answer the phone and then they casually send you a letter stating that your authorization was declined due to doctor not sending forms( but we have proof) and they can't get hold of you. Who will get a hold of someone when the aim is to sabotage the whole claims process? Especially after having over 5 numbers on the system? My son urgently needed tests to be done and I explained it over and over again. His doctor went out of her way to request approval but it fell on deaf ears. We are in a public hospital now...with medically aid because the "systems" they have innolace to prevent claims. It quite sad and pathetic. It won't end here. The next step is social media and then the ombudsman. Everyone should know how about the tactics these people use to get out of claiming for admissions.