On 6th May 2021, Discovery Medical Scheme, South Africa's largest Medical Scheme, announced that the premium increase will start from 1st July. Ryan Noach, Chief Executive Officer at Discovery Health, said that they did not increase their premiums as usual at the beginning of this year, which helped members to save a total of R2.2 billion. He explained that their Medical Scheme is 17 percent cheaper than other Medical Schemes on average. Ryan Noach announced a 5.9% premium increase from 1st July. The total weighted average contributions paid by the members will only increase by 2.95% in the whole 2021, compared to other industry where the members have experienced an average increase of 5.5%. Here is the table of the new premiums from July. Members will receive an email notification about your premium and benefit adjustment in the next two weeks. You can also go to the Discovery website or log in to your discovery cell phone APP, or consult your medical aid broker. If your health care needs or budget has changed, you can change your medical aid option before 15th June, including upgrades and downgrades.
Discovery also proposed a special offer to all members. For both new and old members, if they have not participated in Discovery Vitality or Discovery Gap Cover in the past year, they can now enjoy three months free of charge from 1st July, as long as they join the Vitality and Discovery Gap Cover before the end of June. It means you can save at least R500 per month in the first three months. In addition, they Discovery has shared about the Vaccination programme and also explained the importance of members getting vaccinated, you can read more about the process Click here to read more. If you haven't subscribed to our YouTube channel, please click here to subscribe!
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“Our Pandemic Shield policy is the first of its kind on the African continent, providing an affordable solution that pays out a lump sum stated benefit if the policyholder is hospitalised as a result of being positively diagnosed with COVID-19 – or any other World Health Organisation declared pandemic illness in the future. The benefit trigger is a hospital admission longer than 48 hours,” adds Martin. Who is Pandemic shield for? Anyone can apply. There are no medicals, and no person will be excluded. Why emplyees need Pandemic Shield Cover? Employees get a lump sum benefit and daily cash amounts if they are hospitalised because of any disease or health event declared as pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO) What about COVID-19? Any hopitalisation longer than 48 hours, as a result of COVID-19, or SARS-CoV-2 is covered as long as you have been tested positive. Vaccinate your employees' financial wellbeing against COVID-19
*No initial waiting period will be applied but subseqient claims will be subjected to a 21 day waiting period after discharge. *Compulsory groups on Gold and Diamond larger than 50 employees will receive a discount. *Premium and benefits are not gauranteed for the duration of cover and may be reviewed from time to time based on risk factors. *This is not a medical scheme and the cover is not the same as that of a medical scheme. *This policy is not a substitute for medical scheme membership. To speak to a Medical Aid Consultant, please email service@daberistic.com,
Tel 011-6581333, Option 2 for Medical Aid.
3. Good nutrition isn't all about what you don't eat, it's often just as important to add in more nourishing nutrients. This ensures you get enough vitamins and minerals.
Try slicing up raw veggies and keeping them bagged in the fridge as snacks, far easier to grab when they're already bite sized. 4. Another simple, festive trick to up your fruit and Veggie intake. Eat as much of the rainbow as you can. At each meal, see if you can introduce one more colour to your main or side dish. 5. Some call them nature's candy - for good reason. Fruits make excellent desserts, and they are also a key part of a healthy diet, filled with disease-fighting nutrients. 6. Skipping breakfast will likely make you hungrier later in the day, and more prone to overeating unhealthy foods. Morning meal represents a prime opportunity to boost your diet with produce. 7. A good night's rest can also go a long way in keeping you on track. When you are sleep deprived, you are more likely to eat mindlessly and crave high-fat, high-sugar foods. 8. Walking is a good way to fit more activity into your day. Breathing fresh air and seeing different scenery is good for metal health and depression. Getting your blood circulating will assist in reducing your risk for chronic health conditions. Please be reminded that Medical aid upgrades for 2021 will end soon, please make sure you have submitted your change by 30 November. For clients on Discovery KeyCare plan, Momentum Ingwe plan, Bonitas Boncap plan and have been selected to do income verification, please make sure all required documents are submitted to prevent your service provider resulting to default to the highest income band and therefore the highest contribution will apply.
Please note: Members joining Momentum health Ingwe option with effect 01 October 2020 onwards will not be required to submit information for income verification (declaration and proof of income). They will remain on their current income bracket moving into 2021 and the new premium will automatically be applicable from 01 January 2021. For more information on medical aid plans, please see below videos, brochures and links to assist you with change of option decision. Discovery Plan series and videos
Below are Discovery Health Plan Guides Brochures for 2021
To help you stay healthy and informed on the COVID-19 situation, Discovery will continue to provide the most up-to-date information and guidance through COVID-19 Information Hub Below are Momentum Health Plan Guides Brochures for 2021 Below are Bonitas Plan Guides Brochures for 2021 It is now time to review your medical aid scheme cover for 2021. This means you have a window within which you can switch to a different plan for the new year. This window usually closes at the end of November (depending on your current provider), so don’t delay collecting the necessary information. This is not a decision to be rushed.
Why do I have to decide now? Medical aid providers allow you to switch to a higher plan once a year (at the end of the year) without penalties or consequences. If you want to save on premiums or you need to increase benefits, now is the time to do it. Generally, medical schemes give you until the end of the year to change your plan. What if I want to change providers altogether? If you are unhappy with your medical aid provider, you can switch to another at any time of the year. But before you do, consider the following: Waiting Periods Medical Aids by law must accept anyone who applies to join their scheme. To protect themselves from older or sickly members that join without having contributed to the risk pool, they usually impose a waiting period of between 3 and 12 months. Waiting periods will apply if 1) you have not been a member of another South African medical aid for the past three months or more, 2) if you change medical schemes before 2 years of being covered with your previous medical aid provider and 3) if you have a pre-existing medical condition. Finding out about any waiting periods is extremely important before deciding to change providers. Late joiner penalty As an additional means to manage the risk of older or sickly members joining without having contributed to the risk pool, medical schemes (according to the Medical Schemes Act) are entitles to add a late joiner penalty to your premium if you were not part of a medical scheme before 01 April 2001. The late joiner penalty is calculated (using a prescribed formula) based on the number of years that you were not on a registered South African medical scheme. The late joiner fee can range between 5% and 75% of the total contribution, depending on the number of years that you were not covered by a medical scheme. It is important to keep proof of all your previous medical scheme membership, as it would help reduce or remove the Late Joiner Penalty. General considerations When reviewing your medical aid plan, you should consider the following factors: - benefits - exclusions - co-payments and deductibles - provider network restrictions - financial soundness of the medical scheme - the medical scheme's service and ability to pay claims - premium (affordability) - gap cover product to supplement your medical aid. Please contact our health team, Tel 011-658-1333, Option 2, or email service@daberistic.com , to find out about different medical aid options. Sirago is one of the leading medical gap cover providers in South Africa. If you have medical aid, then Sirago gap cover is an essential supplement to your medical aid, to cover payment shortfalls. Sirago offers some of the premium, benefit-rich products. Overall, the premium increase will be 8.6%. It has some great updates and additions in 2021. These are:
Continuing with their focus on specific niche markets, they will be launching the following products:
2021 Sirago Gap Cover Premium Momentum Medical Scheme focuses more than ever on keeping benefit design stable and ensuring that their members continue to enjoy comprehensive and affordable benefits. The 3rd largest open medical aid scheme in South Africa, Momentum Medical Scheme has announced an average annual contribution increase of 3.9% for 2021. This is substantially lower that the weighted average annual contribution increase of 8.2% for 2020.
If you have any queries or are interested in joining Momentum Medical Scheme, please contact us on 011-658-1333, 076-200-5488 or email service@daberistic.com. |
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January 2025
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