Discovery Health is offering members a once-off additional benefit called the WELLTH Fund, to be used to cover additional costs incurred in preventative screening.

Research by Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) found that general health checks were down 50% at the peak of the pandemic compared to pre-Covid levels. This was due to the Covid lockdowns. As a result, the scheme has seen an increase among its members in chronic illness and death from diseases such as cancer.

Using the surpluses in the fund, which built up due to lower-than-average claims during the Covid lockdowns, Discovery Health is offering members a once off WELLTH Fund to be used to cover additional costs incurred in preventative screening.

Once this benefit is activated, each adult beneficiary will be allocated an amount of R2 500, and children between the ages of 2 and 18 will be allocated R1 250 each, up to a limit of R10 000 per policy. Children under the age of two will still have full access to the fund once a primary member has activated the benefit.

Members of DHMS will be able to access the full amount of their allocated WELLTH Fund at any time during the two-year period (January 2023 to December 2024), regardless of when the benefit was activated.

Remember to activate your WELLTH Fund

The WELLTH Fund will only be activated once all beneficiaries on the policy have completed their initial health checks.  For adults, this is the annual health check (funded from the Screening and Prevention Benefit), and for children (two years and older), this is the annual digital kids health review.

The health check involves the following tests: blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and body mass index (BMI). The assessment also includes a non-smoker’s declaration and HIV screening. The health check can be completed in-person at a Discovery Store, an accredited pharmacy, a GPs rooms or at an employer’s Wellness Day.

Members who completed a health check during 2022 will be activated for the WELLTH Fund.

The fund gives members access to six broad categories of health screening services. These include:

• General health screenings
• Physical health screening
• Mental health screening
• Women’s and men’s specific health screening
• Children’s specific health screening
• Medical monitoring devices for condition management purposes

The WELLTH Fund does not replace the Screening and Prevention Benefit on DHMS. The Screening and Prevention Benefit continues to offer risk cover for a defined list of screening and preventative healthcare services. If the screening is already covered by the Screening and Prevention Benefit, DHMS will pay the claim from that benefit first, and then only from the WELLTH Fund in instances where that benefit is depleted or unavailable.

This would for example cover consultation fees which are not part of the Screening and Prevention Benefit.

The WELLTH Fund is completely supplementary to members’ existing benefits in 2023 and 2024.

1. it covers eligible healthcare services once defined risk benefits for those services are depleted, so members are not losing out on risk benefits because of the WELLTH Fund during 2023 and 2024.
2. It covers eligible healthcare services that would otherwise have been paid from the Medical Savings Account, so it preserves the savings of members during 2023 and 2024.

This article first appeared in City Press.