Press release -
Discovery Health receives R1 million for sustainable job creation
Discovery Health has recently been awarded R1 million by the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Metro as a result of the investment that the company has made in the Metro by opening its Health Service Centre in the Coega Industrial Development Zone in November 2011.
The initiative from the NMB Metro is relatively new and the award to Discovery is the first one of its kind. The incentive is aimed at attracting and encouraging new investments and expansion into the region. The reasons are clear and are that of job creation and economic growth. Additionally, new investments will help grow the municipality's revenue. The minimum qualifying criteria for this incentive is a new investment of R10 million or more and 50 new jobs in the region.
The opening of the service centre has created sustained employment opportunities and development within the NMB Metro with employment figures that have grown from a staff complement of 60 when it opened to 336 currently. This figure is expected to grow to 400 at the end of 2012.
“We are ecstatic to have seen the steady rise in employment within the Coega Industrial Development Zone, mainly as a result of continued investment by the private sector, such as Discovery and the continued support from local government. The potential for massive, sustainable job creation in the region is unlimited as we have the necessary infrastructure in place, we just need more investors,” says Mr. Ayanda Vilakazi, Head of Marketing and Communication at Coega.
The service centre is responsible for servicing the Discovery Health membership base and key stakeholders, across a virtual call centre and operations platform functioning nationally. Services include call centres, general administration, correspondence and escalation query management, billing and credit control, concierge/high touch services as well as relationship management teams for both healthcare providers and corporate clients. It is believed that the facilities offered by the Coega Development Corporation are truly world class and at a competitive price which benefits all the stakeholders in the region.
At Discovery, we see great value in private/public partnerships that give way to sustained economic and social imperatives that are of national and global concern. “Our commitment is to uphold and promote our core purpose through providing products that meets the needs of our members, job creation and corporate social investments in the region. To that end we have invested in excess of R5 million on training and development at Coega in the last 18 months,” says Dr. Ayanda Ntsaluba, Executive Director of Discovery Holdings.
“Nelson Mandela Bay Metro is not immune to the challenges that are facing our country today, those being the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequalities. It has become fundamental that Nelson Mandela Bay Metro forge strong strategic partnerships particularly with the private sector in order to deal with these challenges. The partnership with Discovery is a shining example and testimony to now more than 300 young people employed in this region. In simple terms Discovery has put food on the tables of more than 300 people in this region. This region and province has a high dependency ratio of 1:7 which means that one person that gets a job will directly or indirectly help support seven people. And this means poverty eradication to communities," commented Councillor Zanoxolo Wayile, Mayor of the NMB Municipality.
Discovery will reinvest the R1 million rebate into its operations in the Eastern Cape to further contribute to the core purpose of making people healthier and protecting and enhancing their lives on an economic and social level. It is Discovery’s aim to make a difference in the communities that it operates in and this is why it will continue to give funding and supportthe community.
The region is of huge strategic and social importance to Discovery and it will continue to invest in the Eastern Cape and its people.
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Discovery information
Discovery is an authorised financial services provider.
Discovery operates in the healthcare cover market in South Africa, the United Kingdom and China; the life assurance market in South Africa and the United Kingdom; as well as the long-term savings and investment market, and short-term insurance market in South Africa.
Vitality, Discovery’s wellness programme, is the world’s largest scientific, incentive-based wellness solution. It provides individual and corporate wellness initiatives in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. The global Vitality membership base now exceeds three million lives.
Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier, and to enhance and protect their lives through financial products that clients need and want.
South African operations
Discovery Health
- Launched in 1992, Discovery Health is South Africa’s largest healthcare funder and manager of medical schemes. It manages 14 medical schemes.
- This includes the Discovery Health Medical Scheme, which has a 50% share in the open medical schemes market, making it South Africa’s largest open medical scheme.
- The Discovery Health Medical Scheme covers more than 2.3 million lives.
- The Scheme is the only one in South Africa to enjoy an AA+ rating for its claims paying ability, the highest possible credit rating from international rating agency Global Credit Ratings.
- The Discovery Health Medical Scheme holds over R7.4 billion in reserves.
- Discovery Health pioneered consumer-driven healthcare in South Africa with the introduction of innovations like the Medical Savings Account and its wellness programme, Vitality.
- Discovery Health was voted the top medical aid brand in the Sunday Times Top Brands survey for both 2010 and 2011.
- Discovery Health was voted the top healthcare product supplier at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) Awards.
Discovery Life
Discovery Life was launched in 2000 and is South Africa’s fastest growing major life assurer in the risk market, having captured 25% of the overall risk broker market.
- It was the first South African insurer to separate risk from investment, leading significant change in the industry.
- The value of its business is now more than R1.6 billion.
- Discovery Life was voted the top life assurer in the Sunday Times Top Brands survey for both 2010 and 2011.
- Discovery Life was voted the top risk and life assurance supplier at the 2010 Financial Intermediaries’ Association of Southern Africa (FIA) Awards and the top long-term insurer: recurring savings at the 2011 FIA Awards.
Discovery Invest
Discovery Invest was launched in October 2007 and declared its maiden profit in 2010.
- Discovery Invest combines the breadth and skill of the asset management industry with the existing research and development capabilities of Discovery Life.
- The company offers consumers a unique and comprehensive product range that addresses the current gaps in the market by offering greater protection against poor investment choices.
- Discovery Invest now has more than R24 billion in assets under management.
- Through Discovery Invest’s LISP platform, clients have access to over 329 local and 65 offshore investment funds.
- In 2011 and 2012, Discovery Invest received the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) award in the investment product: recurring premium category.
Discovery Vitality
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Launched in 1997, Vitality is Discovery’s science-based wellness programme that underpins each of the Discovery businesses and is an international brand in its own right.
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Vitality encourages healthy behaviours that reduce long-term healthcare costs by rewarding members for improving their health.
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There are now more than 1.5 million Vitality members in South Africa.
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Vitality is accredited by the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.
- The HealthyLiving™ benefit offers Vitality members up to 25% cash back on HealthyCare™ products at Clicks, HealthyGear™ at adidas and TotalSports stores, and HealthyFood™ items at Pick n Pay.
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The Vitality value offering is enhanced by the DiscoveryCard, Discovery’s unique Visa credit card which gives members real cash back.
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Launched in 2004, the DiscoveryCard is the largest non-bank card in issue, with an 8.9% share of point-of-sales spend.
Discovery Insure
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Discovery Insure was launched in May 2011.
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This pioneering product was created by leveraging the behavioural expertise developed in the Vitality programme with the latest telematics technology.
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The unique Vitalitydrive programme encourages and rewards better driving behaviour and ensuring that vehicles are roadworthy.
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At the heart of Vitalitydrive is the DQ-Track telematics device that measures and resports crucial aspects of driving behaviour.
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Vitalitydrive provides up to 50% fuel rewards on clients’ monthly BP fuel spend.
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Discovery Insure offers comprehensive vehicle, personal and household cover.
International operations
United Kingdom
In the UK, Discovery has a 75% shareholding in a joint venture with Prudential plc. Through PruHealth and PruProtect, the company offers healthcare cover and protection products.
PruHealth
Launched in 2004, PruHealth is the fourth largest private medical insurer in the UK and the only one that rewards people for leading a healthy lifestyle.
- It offers consumer-directed products linked to the Vitality wellness programme.
- In 2010, Discovery acquired Standard Life Healthcare, thereby leveraging the significant assets of both companies and resulting in greater scale for PruHealth.
- PruHealth has won several awards for its product innovations.
PruProtect
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PruProtect, which was launched in 2007, markets consumer-engaged life assurance products in the UK market.
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The company’s products integrate with those of PruHealth and Vitality to unlock added value and significant premium savings for clients.
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The company has become a major player in the UK protection market.
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PruProtect has received industry recognition, including awards in four categories at the 2011 Defacto Awards. The company was also named Best Individual Protection Provider in 2011 by Professional Adviser, and walked off with the Innovation Award at the 2011 Protection Review.
United States
The Vitality Group
The Vitality Group was launched in 2007 and offers a stand-alone version of the Vitality programme to self-insured, large employer groups and to healthcare carriers.
- Discovery holds a 75% share in The Vitality Group, 25% being held by Humana Inc.
- The Vitality Group has entered into a partnership with Wellness and Prevention, a subsidiary of Johnson&Johnson, the world’s premier consumer health company.
- In 2011, the group was awarded the C Everett Koop National Health Award for its work with Alcon Laboratories, a highly prestigious award recognising outstanding workplace health improvement programmes.
HumanaVitality
Launched in 2011, HumanaVitality is a joint venture between Humana Inc and Discovery (through The Vitality Group) that makes Vitality available to Humana clients with commercial medical plans.
- Discovery holds a 25% share in HumanaVitality.
- Humana Inc is the fourth largest health insurer in the US with 18 million members.
- HumanaVitality now has more than 1.1 million Vitality members.
China
Ping An Health
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Ping An Health was launched in China in 2010, after Discovery acquired a 20% share in Ping An Health Insurance Co of China Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China.
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Ping An Insurance is China’s leading insurer and the second largest in the world.
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The joint venture will see Discovery’s product innovation and consumer-engaged model exported to a potential market of 83 million families.
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Vitality was launched in China through Ping An Health in May 2012.
