Johannesburg — Healthcare provider, Discovery Health has launched a series of new plans which allow members comprehensive cover at significantly lower premiums.

The new plans - the Discovery Priority Series - are aimed at making comprehensive cover more affordable, with premiums of as much as 25% lower providing members will similar cover to their comprehensive plans.

The new plans hinge on: providing cover for uncontrollable hospital events and comprehensive day-to-day expenses; member empowerment; and a specific out of pocket payment on 13 defined surgical procedures.

Through these plans, CEO of Discovery, Adrian Gore, says the company "has been able to reverse an industry trend which has seen many people opt for less cover, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected medical expenses."

In addition, Discovery has also partnered with the Medi-Clinic private hospital group to extend its range of health care cover. The Plan provides members with comprehensive hospital and day-to-day benefits within the Medi-Clinic network.

At the same time, an average annual rate increase of 13,3% has also been announced. For members who fund their Medical Savings Account "at the appropriate level" next year, the increase will be even lower, said Discovery: "An average member will pay just 6,1% more for their cover in 2004 than they paid in 2003."

The 13,3% rate increase falls well within what Gore refers to as the 'Discovery Certainty Corridor' - a containment of the group's annual increases between 12% to 14,8% over the last five years.

"Thanks to the high reserves accumulated through the Medical Savings Account (MSA), one in four members will not experience a rate increase going into 2004, while many will be able to reduce their MSA contributions without affecting the level of benefits," said Gore.

In another announcement, Discovery said that members of its two member lifestyle programmes, Discovery Vitality and KeyClub, would benefit from a number of new partnerships.

KeyClub - aimed at people who earn a low income and were previously uninsured - now offers automatic funeral cover for the member and all dependants through Capital Alliance. KeyClub members will also receive lower rates on Greyhound buses as well as Telkom vouchers at reduced rates.

Vitality members will also receive added benefits through new partnerships with Clicks, Look & Listen Music Stores, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Imperial Motors and Barloword.