Discovery continues to lead the industry by rolling out exciting benefits and offerings: Mental wellbeing Shari'ah compliance arrangement Infertility and assisted reproductive therapy benefit Hospital network and day surgery updates New clinic and other services for employers Diabetes care programme Chronic Illness Benefits Co-payments and deductibles To find out more, please click on each tab below.
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Mental wellbeing Statistics according to WHO shows one in four people in the world will be affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives, this positions mental disorder amongst one of the leading causes of ill-health worldwide. Mental ill-ness often left undiagnosed and with 84% of adults never receiving treatment and this impacts society and WHO estimates cost to global economy may exceed $16 trillion by 2030. Discovery’s approach to alleviate this disorder, they have introduced management in mental wellbeing. Below programs offered are:
Shari’ah compliant arrangement From 2021 members from our Muslim community can appoint to have their contribution and claims across all plans to conform with Shari’ah principles through the Shari’ah compliant arrangement. • Model is compliant and is based on Takaful principles • Process flow happens in an acceptable manner • No interest earned or paid at any stage • No ambiguity in contracts • Members’ interests are protected • Investments are managed in Shari’ah Compliant manner • No interest earned or paid on Shari’ah Compliant arrangement. Funds will be invested in a compliant manner allowing members opportunity to earn profit on Medical Savings Account balances. • Members that partake in this arrangement attain affirmation on their contribution and balances remaining after settlement of claims and other expenditure will be invested in Shari’ah compliant investments. Infertility and assisted reproductive Therapy benefit When a couple is looking forward to building a family and the incapability to fall pregnant is aggravating. It affects many families and takes a emotional toll, however, many infertility cases can be remedied through treatment such as drug, surgical repair and assisted reproductive techniques including intra-urine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Taking a leap of faith on possibility to become a parent can come with a price tag, an average of R65000.00 – R85000.00 for a single IVF treatment cycle, this may be a hefty cost for many families in which will hinder and or have reservations from taking on this treatment. Discovery would like to support couples/ families distressed from infertility with introducing cover for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) and the benefit will include cover for: • Up to two cycles of ART if Scheme’s benefit and clinical entry criteria are met. • This includes a series of care for the progress of the full duration: consultations, ultrasounds, oocyte retrieval, embryo transfers, admission costs including lab fees, medication and embryo and sperm storage. • The total limit of R110 000.00 per person per year at Discovery health rate applies. • Members will be subject to 25% of the costs and any excess above the Discovery Health Rate. • This benefit will be attainable at Southern African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy (SASREG) accredited centres only and subject to clinical pathways and protocols. • Lastly, the benefit is only available to female members that has been on Executive and Comprehensive Plans for at least 2 years and the age between 25-42 years old.
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Chronic Illness Benefits
Diabetes Care Programme 2021 Premier Plus GP network will become the Designated service provider for members with Diabetes on the comprehensive plans. It is supported by the extensive coverage offered by the Premier Plus GP network and the clinical outcomes achieved by the diabetes care programme. The chosen GP will be member’s DSP for the ongoing management of diabetes as well as cardiovascular conditions. Statistics has shown in improvement when member’s care is coordinated by a single doctor. Hospital Network Updates and Day Surgery New hospitals will be added, and some existing hospitals will be replaced with region specific substitutions for 2021 to ensure continued optimisation of the Delta, Smart and KeyCare hospital networks In the Day Surgery, they will extend this offer to Comprehensive plans given focus on provider and patient safety because of COVID-19. The 2021 new hospital network and day surgery lists will be published by the end of October 2020.
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Limits, Co-payments, deductible and Thresholds
Next: Vitality 2021 - To Help members stay motivated Co-payments For Endoscopic Procedures
New Clinic and Other Services for Employers Daily monitoring of COVID-19 exposure, prevalence, and disease progression:
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On 30 September 2020, Discovery hosted its first ever virtual workshop with over 10,000 brokers, to announce Discovery Health's benefits and contribution update for 2021. Discovery reiterates that its core purpose is to make people healthier and enhance and protect their lives. 2020 has been a very challenging year from the healthcare perspective. According to Discovery Health's statistics, during the lockdown period over the last few months, the number of elective surgeries has drastically reduced as members chose to delay these treatments and avoid going to the hospital. The COVID pandemic meant most of the healthcare resources were directed towards the testing and treating COVID patients. No increase in contributions up until 30 June 2021Discovery Health understands that everyone has gone through financial strain during the lockdown, so we are excited to announce that Discovery has decided to freeze all scheme contribution increase across all plans for the first 6 months of 2021. However, this alleviation is not long term, thus the contribution increase will be announced during the second quarter of the year and implemented on 1 July 2021. The expected increase will be CPI + 2%, capped at 5.9%. Doing so, they are looking to assist members in affordability, sustainability and spreading the financial impact everyone has gone through during 2020. Based on its data analysis and observations during the pandemic, four trends have emerged: Utilisaiton discontinuity - how the COVID pandemic has disrupted the normal medical utilisation pattern. Technology - the pandemic has pushed the use of technology to the fore, to enable digital healthcare services from the comfort of one's home. Quality care Access - recognising that millions of South Africans don't have medical aid, Discovery announces a solution to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all. We use a few infographics to illustrate these trends: Discovery Health's experience shows the COVID pandemic peaked around June to August. What has helped the scheme was from late March to now the number of non-COVID hospital admissions have reduced by 20% to 30% compared to last year. Discovery Health has always been innovative and progressive with technology. Since the lockdown began, virtual consultations have increased by 8-fold. Discovery Health now introduces Connected Care, where it enables a range of appropriate home-based healthcare services for all levels of care. The picture above shows the TytoHome diagnostic device Discovery is bringing into the country and offering its members. Discovery's research shows 50% of South Africans are on "pre-paid" healthcare. They have launched Prepaid Health to cater for all South Africans. This new offering launching at the end of December 2020 is one of the exciting products where good healthcare is available to anyone on a pay-as-your-go basis. Discovery leverages on its network, so you have access to good healthcare at a discounted rate. For members on hospital plans only, they can also purchase these vouchers for their day-to-day benefits. Discovery Health Plan Guides 2021Below are the Discovery Health Plan Guide brochures for 2021 (note these are still subject to approval by the Council for Medical Schemes): Next: Other highlights in Discovery Health Product Update 2021
South African Market Update South African equities tracked global markets lower during the month, weighed down by poor performance from some large industrial and resource shares, despite strong performance from the local banking sector. Local bonds ended the month largely flat, as appetite for emerging market debt remained subdued, despite the attractive yields on offer. Local listed property continued to face headwinds from uncertainty regarding earnings and distributions, which has deterred investment in the asset class due to the historical reliance on income as a source of return. The rand was stronger against most major developed market currencies for the month, which detracted from the contribution of the performance of global asset classes. South African Economic Update South Africa moved to a level 1 lockdown on 21 September, as daily local Covid-19 infections continued to decline during the month and the recovery rate improved to a figure of around 90%. SA’s Q2 2020 GDP data was released during the month, indicating that GDP fell 17.1% year-on-year for the second quarter, as the hard lockdown took its toll on the local economy. South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago announced that the Monetary Policy Committee has decided to leave the repo rate unchanged at 3.5%. The decision by the MPC was split, with 2 of the 5 members favouring an interest rate cut. SA headline CPI fell to a year-on-year figure of 3.1% to the end of August (from 3.2% in July), close to the bottom end of the target range of between 3% and 6%. Chart of the month: Daily confirmed Covid-19 cases continued to fall in South Africa during the month as the country moved to a level 1 lockdown. (Source: Statista) See below for a summary of the key market movements for the month of September:
Please click on the links below to download the Market Summary PDF and the Market Commentary PDF, intended to be ‘end investor friendly’ Morningstar Market Commentary SA September 2020.pdf 2020_09_Morningstar Market Summary.pdf *All data is sourced from Morningstar Direct as at 30/09/2020. The performance of South African asset classes is quoted in rands and the performance of global asset classes is quoted in US dollars. Global equity markets ended September lower, as concerns over a second wave of Covid-19 infections across Europe and the possibility of a recurrence of infections in the US winter weighed on sentiment. US politics took centre stage during the month, ahead of what is likely to be hotly contested US Presidential Election in November. The first presidential debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, was marred by President Trump refusing to declare that he will accept the election result if he loses. The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its meeting midway through the month, indicating that they expect interest rates to remain close to zero through 2023, further reinforcing an increased tolerance for inflation in the medium term. Source: Morningstar We have the pleasure of interviewing Teresa Lu, as part of our series of profiling professionals of Chinese/Taiwanese descent in the financial services sector in South Africa. What is your name? Age? Hui-Ching Lu, also known as Teresa Lu. Age 42. What has been your experience? I am a founding member and a portfolio manager at Ngwedi Investment Managers. Prior to joining Ngwedi, I was employed at Investec Asset Management and Prescient Investment Management. What do you do? I am a portfolio manager managing client portfolios that are entrusted with our company. Your area of expertise? I have extensive experience in managing a wide variety of fixed income portfolios and derivatives. Your place of birth? I was born in Taiwan while my family originated from Shandong, China. When did you immigrate to South Africa? What brought you here? My mother was an accountant at one of the Taiwanese companies that came to establish operations in South African in the early 90s. Where did you study, and your qualifications? I hold a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cape Town. Why did you choose your line of studies? Applied Mathematics covers a wide variety of topics and I studied Cosmology through Applied Mathematics route. Cosmology is a fascinating topic for research purpose. How did you get into the financial services sector? While I was completing my PhD, I started thinking about what I wanted to do for my career. Although I enjoyed what I studied very much, however I could not imagine myself working as a researcher at the university. I came across a book called “My Life as a Quant” by Emanuel Derman where he shared his exciting journey of migration from being a physicist to becoming a Wall Street member. I then decided to explore the sector further which then led to my decision in a career path. What are your hobbies and interests in your spare time? I enjoy reading fantasy books in my spare time. I also enjoy exploring different culture and cuisine while travelling. How do you see the future of South Africa? There are a lot of challenges ahead for South Africa. High unemployment and low growth rates are the two greatest challenges for its current leadership. President Cyril Ramaphosa will also need to demonstrate his determination and ability in tackling corruption that has long plagued the country. With the country’s debt-to-GDP level expected to exceed 100% in 2024-25, it is crucial for South Africa to be able to stabilise its fiscus spending and reduce wastage in the near future. If the country is able to take all the necessitate steps and bear with the short term pain, I believe South Africa can come out much stronger as this is a country that has great potential in the long run. What advice or encouragement do you have for university students who want to enter the financial services sector? There are different areas of disciplines within the finance sector. Knowing which area fascinate you will be crucial to how successful you become as there will be a natural bias toward how much effort you are willing to put into your work. Discovery, is the leading company of South Africa's medical insurance company that has developed a very complete mobile app. You can log in to the Discovery mobile App to view the benefits you have-the benefits that have not been used, and the benefits that have been used. Note: The benefits of each insurance option may be slightly be different. If you have not downloaded the Discovery App, please check this link for steps: How to download the Discovery App If you have not registered yet, please click on the link :Registering for Discovery When you log in to the mobile app, you can see the following screen: 1. Click the menu in the upper left corner 2. Click on medical aid 3. Then select Your plan, then select benefit used 4. The following is an example of Different health insurance options as they may have different benefits. 0/1 means that there is an unused item, 1/1 means that there is a benefit that has been used. Some benefits may not be in line with you (for example: female clients cannot use "prostate examination") 5. You can also click "Medical aid Details" 6.Then click on your option, the arrow on the far right. 7. You will see this screen: You can choose the benefits you want to view. 8. The following takes "daily benefits" as an example If you have any other queries regarding your benefits please contact Namhla or Tammy in our Health department email; [email protected] call (011) 658 1333.
This article is courtesy of Morningstar Investment Management, our Discretionary Investment Manager. |
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January 2025
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