Discovery Health Medical Scheme gives members a lifeline with Wellth Fund benefit

If it's been a while since your last check-up, chances are you're not certain if you face a higher risk of developing a lifestyle health condition, such as diabetes or hypertension. When left untreated or poorly managed, these conditions can escalate to severe disease. This can have a significant effect on your life expectancy and health span. 

“If conditions like cancer can be diagnosed, and diabetes or hypertension managed as early as possible, this can result in at least 131,000 fewer days in hospital a year for Discovery Health members; and an annual saving of R120m for the medical scheme,” says Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach. 

“This is why screening and early detection is so important — for people's quality of life, and for the scheme that aims to better protect them.”

South Africans aren't screening as much as they should

“Screening rates are low in the healthcare sector. At Discovery Health Medical Scheme, we've noted a significant decline in screening rates among members since the end of 2019. For instance, health checks have dropped by 50%, mammograms by 15%, pap smears by 12% and prostate screening by 10%.”

“This is largely due to the pandemic and the limited access people had during lockdowns. People were understandably more cautious about being around others. The downside is that early detection of underlying health conditions, for many people, will have been missed during this time. This can have severe long-term effects for individuals and the medical scheme.”

“This is of great concern and we encourage members to go for regular screenings again — especially now that the threat of severe Covid-19 has abated. It's safer for people to head back to their healthcare providers for general health checks. To help encourage this, we're launching the ‘WELLTH’ Fund.” 

What is the WELLTH Fund?

The Discovery Health Medical Scheme WELLTH Fund is a once-in-a-lifetime benefit that covers a comprehensive list of discretionary screening and preventive healthcare services for all scheme members, over and above those already covered by the screening and prevention benefit. 

“The WELTH Fund will enable members to understand their health status with a maximum provision of R10,000 per family to use for a range of screening services. With this understanding, members will better manage and improve the state of their health.”

The fund is available to all Discovery Health Scheme members and across all health plans for a maximum of two benefit years: January 1 2023 to December 31 2024. New members will automatically qualify for the fund when they join. Their benefit period will end on December 31 of the following year.

With Discovery Health's new WELLTH Fund, preventive screening has never been easier, more accessible or more convenient. Now you can keep track of the whole family's health status.

What health screening services will the WELLTH Fund cover?

These include:

• General health
• Physical health
• Mental wellbeing
• Women’s health
• Men’s health
• Children’s health 

“Though for a limited time, the WELLTH Fund is a significant addition to our suite of benefits that is aimed at encouraging members to take better care of themselves and their loved ones. The adage, 'prevention is better than cure' is a reality for us all; one which we hope the WELLTH Fund will help serve members well.” 

Click here to learn more about the WELLTH Fund and how you can best use it for the optimal health of your family. 

^{The Discovery Health Medical Scheme is an independent non-profit entity governed by the medical schemes act and regulated by the Council for Medical Schemes. It is administered by a separate company, Discovery Health (Pty) Ltd, an authorised financial services provider.}

This article was sponsored by Discovery Health Medical Scheme.