Discovery Life has published its claims data for the 2020 calendar year, with the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacting the group’s South African members.<\/p>\n
A tragic second and third wave, as well as the long-term health impact of long Covid, have driven higher-than-usual claims attributed to the pandemic, said Riaan van Reenen, Discovery Life’s chief executive.<\/p>\n
“Although Covid-19 impacted claims in 2020 materially, the impact of the second and third waves primarily impacted the 2021 claims experience,” he said.<\/p>\n
The data shows Covid-19 has dramatically impacted Discovery Life’s death claims experience, with it now overtaking cancer, heart and artery disease as the primary cause of death amongst Discovery Life clients.<\/p>\n
“If we inspect the highest claims category per year for the past 10 years, we find that Covid-19 has emerged as the leading cause of death \u2013 overtaking cancer and artery claims, which in previous years were the main causes of death,” van Reenen said.<\/p>\n
“Further, deaths emanating from Covid-19 in 2021 have been almost 50% higher than all other causes of death combined.”<\/p>\n
He noted that heart and artery diseases caused an average of 27% of deaths each year over the previous nine years, compared to 57% of all deaths being attributed to Covid-19 for 2021 up to August.<\/p>\n
Van Reenen added that Discovery Life has already paid out nearly R3 billion to clients in Covid-19 related claims up to 30 June 2021. Based on its projections, it expects a total of R6.2 billion in Covid-19-related claims to be paid out between individual and group risk insurance policies by June 2022.<\/p>\n
“Coivd-19 is likely to become an endemic disease in the near future with a continued impact on society in the years to come,” he said.<\/p>\n
A healthy lifestyle is a key factor<\/strong><\/p>\n As the pandemic continues and more data becomes available on the link between health behaviours and Covid-19 risk, it’s becoming more evident that a healthy lifestyle can reduce an individual’s risk of severe complications from Covid-19, said Discovery Life’s chief medical officer Dr Maritha van der Walt.<\/p>\n “Our data and analysis show that in 2020, clients on Gold and Diamond status exhibited 73% lower mortality rates than clients without Vitality and those on a Blue status,” she said.<\/p>\n This was echoed by deputy chief executive Gareth Friedlander, who said that healthy behaviours are proven to lower a client’s risk.<\/p>\n “<\/b>A healthier client exhibits lower mortality, morbidity, and lapse rates, and when our clients lead a healthy life, it allows us to derive insurance savings over a more extended period.<\/p>\n “We are pleased to announce that 80% of Discovery Life’s clients aged older than 60 have been vaccinated, with the rate for our book overall at 71% having received at least one vaccine.”<\/p>\n Covid-19 increases clients’ mortality and morbidity risk by as much as 10 times the base mortality rate, he said.<\/p>\n
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