The Wealth Room

DISCOVERY VITALITY PRICE INCREASES AND MASSIVE CHANGES FOR 2020

Discovery has announced a number of changes for Vitality members in 2020 – including the return of Discovery Miles and new integration with Discovery Bank.

Similar to programmes such as eBucks, Discovery Miles is a rewards currency that members can earn for getting healthy, driving well and spending responsibly.

Discovery Bank clients can also spend their miles at a range of new in-store and online partners, or convert it to cash if they have a Discovery Bank account.

Some of the ways that users can earn miles include:

Earn for all purchases made with a Discovery Bank credit card in-store or online. Depending on their status, Discovery said that users can earn one mile for every R15 spent;

Earn Discovery Miles for making healthy lifestyle choices. This includes up to 75% back when shopping at Pick n Pay and Woolworths;

Earn up to 300 miles per week by completing weekly Vitality Active Rewards goals in the mobile app.

You can find a list of stores and service where you can spend your Discovery Miles below:

Points thresholds

Discovery said that the points thresholds required to reach bronze, silver and gold Vitality status will be lowered to encourage engagement and to align thresholds with points earning categories and health outcomes.

The company also announced that it would be making changes to its Diamond and Gold calculations.

“Members can now reach Diamond Vitality status in a single year and no longer need to be on Gold Vitality status for three years,” it said.

“The Vitality points threshold to get to Diamond Vitality status will be 50,000 Vitality points to align the Vitality annual engagement and long-term mortality and morbidity outcomes of a Diamond Vitality status member.”

You can find the new point thresholds below:

Price changes

Discovery says that it has enhanced its product offering for 2020 with the introduction of the Vitality Health Tracker – available to all Discovery members at no cost – and improvements to the Vitality Active product to help more members get healthy.

The Vitality Health Tracker will be available in Q1 2020 and will replace Vitality Move. It Will allow users to reach personalised, weekly exercise goals, and complete relevant health checks to meet personalised health goals.

The table below outlines the most notable rate changes for 2020:

Mental health

Discovery said that it will be adding ‘mental wellbeing’ as a personalised health goal for the first time in 2020.

According to the group, 30% of South Africans will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime and by 2030 depression will be the world’s biggest burden of disease.

“The mental wellbeing programme will encourage regular mental wellbeing screenings, recommend risk-based interventions and reward members for reaching their goals,” it said.

“Users can complete online mental wellbeing assessments across six key areas based on international guidelines. The outcomes of these assessments are used to give the member a clinical risk score reflecting their risk of developing depression and anxiety.”

Discovery said that you can earn 500 Vitality points every six months for completing all mental wellbeing assessments.

Based on the outcome of the mental wellbeing assessments, members will receive tailored recommendations and interventions including:

Reassessments every one, three or six months;
Access to telephonic counselling through a dedicated support line with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, available 24 hours a day;
Additional appropriate clinical referrals based on medical scheme benefits.
Chronic conditions

Discovery said that it will also be making a number of updates to its points calculations for chronic conditions, including:

You can earn 1,500 for completing the Vitality Age assessment.

You can earn 500 Vitality points twice a year for completing the mental wellbeing assessments.

Earn up to 7,500 Vitality points for the first time a Vitality member goes for an HIV test

Earn up to 1,000 Vitality points for subsequent HIV screening; this will apply to Vitality members that have previously earned points for performing an HIV test.

In 2020, Discovery said that members can also earn up to 4,000 Vitality points per year for effectively managing their chronic conditions.

Source: Staff Writer – Businesstech.co.za