Why Discovery is so expensive

Discovery CEO Adrian Gore splash R103m on luxury pad in New York

why's it so expensive you ask.
money dont grow on trees y'all !!!

After splashing out R25m for an apartment in Cape Town's ultra-exclusive Clifton, Adrian Gore founder and CE of Discovery, picked up a three-bedroom luxury pad in New York for R103m in January.
Adrian Gore, founder and chief executive of South Africa's largest private medical aid scheme, does not believe in doing things in half measures.

Less than a year after splashing out R25-million for a sea-facing apartment in Cape Town's ultra-exclusive Clifton, the billionaire picked up a three-bedroom luxury pad in New York for R103million in January.

The 15th floor New York apartment, which boasts solid white oak and Italian marble floors, three bathrooms and a powder room, had been on the market for nine months before the Discovery Group boss snapped it up.

The Real Deal, New York's real estate magazine, said the sale was filed with city authorities on January 6.

Gore also owns a home in Johannesburg's Inanda, another in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape, and a New York penthouse that he bought for about R45.7-million in 2011.

The Sunday Times Rich List last year ranked him as the 12th richest South African, with R4.2-billion in investments.
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http://www.eprop.co.za/commercial-p...gore-splash-r103m-luxury-pad-in-new-york.html
 
Sinbad said:
There were reports of one family spending 250k on physio treatment in a year.
That's overspending..
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Surely discovery should handle those situations on a case-by-case basis?

Seems unfair to overcharge everyone because a few people are gaming the system...
 
Ok -- for all these people on the forum I would quickly like to describe how medical schemes work -- and why most of the comments above are irrelevant. By law a medical scheme cannot make money -- now everybody will stop me and say but Discovery makes money... and that is because they make their money from administration of the medical scheme.

The risk portion of your premium, which is by far the biggest is only affected by members claims.

Medical schemes are very very transparent. Have a look at https://www.discovery.co.za/discovery_coza/web/linked_content/pdfs/health/highlights_of_discovery_health_medical_scheme_2014.pdf to see where your premium goes.

BTW -- I am not a fan of Discovery (for reasons unrelated to rise in premiums) -- but the problems he describe is the same with all Medical Schemes.
 
Are they really that more expensive? When I last did research the price was about 10% more than the competition. The 10% more + vitality worked out cheaper in the bigger picture with gym, movies and plane tickets.
 
Discovery's admin fee on member's funds is much the same as that in other medical schemes.

Many people have no idea how medical aid schemes work in SA. They don't realise that members' contributions don't belong to Discovery, and they can't get their hands on them.

Rolling Alpha earlier this year has some useful posts on this topic. Discovery makes a gross margin of under 15%, on the lower side of SA medical schemes.
 
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I must admit that I don't mind high medical aid costs. My mom would be dead if not for her medical aid - she cost them over a million Rand in medical expenses in 2011 and they paid everything on time and without complaint.
 
The end of these private medical aid schemes is near.
Mandatory National Health Insurance payments from your salary are on their way.
They just milking us for what they can, until the game is over.
 
Broomberg said healthcare inflation was not to blame for high medical aid fees, but rather members who overused the services.
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If so, why not "underwrite" the those abusing their "insurance"? Nailing all policyholders for the abuses by a few is both archaic and infuriatingly lazy.

It also shows that they're clueless about managing their business. Pathetic!
 
What I do find odd is back in the early 90's as a private paying patient, insisting on medical aid rates meant you paid cheaper for Hospitals and operations than other cash payers.

Today I have to insist that I am paying for the hospital & operation myself to fall in the cheaper category. Somewhere between then and now things swapped around when it comes to medical rates...

Wonder if this has anything to do with it?
 
Someone has to pay for the executives fancy holiday homes, his ferraris, ... Super rich people like that should be shot
 
OK, here's a story: my aunt with medical aid (MedShield), she went for an eye procedure. Beforehand she got authorisation and the cost was going to be 4 grand. She goes for the procedure at the doctors rooms, afterwards they ask her is she paying cash, she says medical aid is going to pay, she goes to the car, the admin lady comes running out to the car to say 4 grand is the private rate but if med aid is going to pay it's going to be like 9 grand and proceeds to ask my aunt, "you have gap cover, right?"
 
StrontiumDog said:
OK, here's a story: my aunt with medical aid (MedShield), she went for an eye procedure. Beforehand she got authorisation and the cost was going to be 4 grand. She goes for the procedure at the doctors rooms, afterwards they ask her is she paying cash, she says medical aid is going to pay, she goes to the car, the admin lady comes running out to the car to say 4 grand is the private rate but if med aid is going to pay it's going to be like 9 grand and proceeds to ask my aunt, "you have gap cover, right?"
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This is something that irritates me so much...Wtf do you need gap cover? Soon gap cover will be the norm and then that even won't be enough. :mad: Then you will need something like "Gap Cover Extender" or some such nonsense.
 
AlphaJohn said:
What I do find odd is back in the early 90's as a private paying patient, insisting on medical aid rates meant you paid cheaper for Hospitals and operations than other cash payers.

Today I have to insist that I am paying for the hospital & operation myself to fall in the cheaper category. Somewhere between then and now things swapped around when it comes to medical rates...
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Medical Aids also seem to have made things more complicated by having several different rates they pay. The richer the customer the higher the premiums they can afford and the more the medical aid covers. What really should happen is that standard rates for all types of doctors and medical treatments should be published.

Many times today for the doctor it will also be a matter of being paid right now versus waiting for the medical aid to pay, sometimes months later.
 
oober said:
This is something that irritates me so much...Wtf do you need gap cover? Soon gap cover will be the norm and then that even won't be enough. :mad: Then you will need something like "Gap Cover Extender" or some such nonsense.
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Because medical aids invent a rate they pay for a treatment and doctors invent a different rate. There is no standardisation.
 
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