Bupa Health Insurance

Bupa By You Health Insurance

Founded

1947

Company Type

Company limited by guarantee

Company Overview

Bupa was founded in the UK in 1947 when 17 separate provident associations joined together. With 38,000 members initially, the British United Provident Association as it was then known was dedicated to prevent, relieving and curing sickness and ill health of every kind.

Bupa offered the first major Company Health Insurance scheme in 1950 and, by 1955, had more than 200,000 members.

Bupa began to expand abroad in the 1970s, first into Malta and then Hong Kong. It also diversified in the UK, moving to offering care homes in the 1980s and significantly growing that business throughout the 1990s and the subsequent decades.

Today, the company has personal Health Insurance customers in markets around the world and it’s the largest provider of PMI in the UK. Bupa employs more than 86,000 people, principally the UK, Australia, Spain, Poland, Hong Kong, Chile, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, New Zealand, Thailand and the US.

Documentation

Bupa By You Health Insurance Overview

Bupa is one of the top UK Medical Insurance providers in terms of brand recognition. Its full PMI offering is comprehensive plan covering a wide range of treatments, while Bupa Fundamental, an entry-level product offering lower-cost PMI, is available only through intermediaries like Drewberry.

• Bupa Anytime HealthLine
  An expert 24/7 phone information line staffed by healthcare professionals.
• Bupa Fundamental
  An entry-level PMI product offering lower-cost cover that’s only available through intermediaries
• Mental health cover
  Mental health conditions are covered both on Bupa’s Comprehensive plan and its mid-range Treatment and Care option
• Bupa Fitness Check
  An annual health checkup offered to most members at a Bupa Health Centre, including a cardio-respiratory report and a range of other tests
• Cancer Cover
  Offers the potential for you to have genetic testing to match chemotherapy drugs (even ones approved by NICE but not yet available on the NHS) to you and your cancer
• Treatment at Home
  At Bupa’s discretion and subject to your consultant’s medical approval, Bupa will pay for certain eligible treatments, such as chemotherapy, to be carried out in your home.

Bupa By You Policy Conditions

Bupa’s Comprehensive plan covers all eligible inpatient and outpatient treatment, while its Treatment and Care plan covers largely inpatient treatment only.

Drewberry Reviews Bupa By You Medical Insurance…

PMI from Bupa offers two main tiers of cover and a number of options within those tiers, making Bupa’s Medical Insurance offering a flexible, dynamic product.

Key Comparison Points

• As well as providing care through Medical Insurance, Bupa also offers a self-pay option, where you can fund all of your treatment in a Bupa hospital yourself. Few other providers offer this as an option as they don’t have the large network of private hospitals and clinics Bupa has across the UK.
• As it is a big name in the UK private healthcare market in its own right, Bupa therefore has a large number of approved facilities for its patients to use. This may mean you’re more likely to find a hospital local to you than with other providers with smaller networks.
• To keep costs down, Bupa’s Health Insurance customers can opt to limit the number of Bupa-approved hospitals they have access to, ruling out the most expensive ones to get cheaper PMI premiums.
• The biggest worry many people have about cancer treatment on the NHS is that breakthrough drugs that could help them might not be funded. Bupa’s Private Health Insurance addresses this with the offer of NHS Cancer Cover Plus as an option, which can help keep premiums down as you’ll receive available cancer treatment on the NHS but the Health Insurance will kick in if a treatment that could benefit you is not available on the NHS due to cost.
• Unlike some other providers, PMI from Bupa does not offer a six week NHS wait option. For the providers that do offer it, it can be a way of keeping costs down because the Health Insurance only kicks in if the procedure you need has a waiting list longer than six weeks on the NHS.
• Bupa’s Health Insurance offers the chance to have chemotherapy, which would normally be a day patient treatment, in the comfort of your home if medically advisable.
• Bupa offers a 2.5% discount for paying your Private Medical Insurance premiums annually. While some providers offer no such discount, there are others on the market, such as AXA PPP, that offer a larger discount.

Policy Exclusions

Bupa’s Medical Insurance exclusions are generally the standard across the industry, such as:

• Treatment required following suicide attempts or self-inflicted injury
• Emergency care
• GP appointments (Bupa offers access to private GPs, but these are not funded buy its PMI)
• Cosmetic treatment for aesthetic reasons (with the exception of certain procedures for younger children)
• ‘Normal’ pregnancy and childbirth
• The long-term management of chronic conditions.

Financial Strength

Bupa is a major player in the private healthcare market in the UK, both in terms of PMI and offering healthcare in facilities operating under the Bupa brand. Owning and operating facilities, as well as its partnership with many others, makes Bupa particularly integrated in today’s healthcare market.

Bupa celebrates its 70th birthday in 2017 and has millions of customers worldwide, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, parts of Europe and China. It is a diversified company, offering not just PMI but also private healthcare and private care homes. It also offers travel insurance (although not as part of its PMI offering) and a standalone private dental insurance plan.

Bupa By You Health Insurance: Questions and Answers

We aim to know the policies we advise on, inside out and back to front. Below is a couple of commonly asked questions with regards to the policy coverage of Bupa’s Medical Insurance. If you need any further help please do not hesitate to call us on 02074425880.

Q. Will Bupa Health Insurance cover me for holidays and overseas trips?

A. No, Bupa’s PMI offering does not extend to offering cover for medical treatment that becomes necessary while abroad. If you’re travelling abroad, Drewberry strongly recommends that you take out a separate and comprehensive travel insurance policy, which will cover you for any medical issues that arise while you’re overseas. You’ll also be covered for lost baggage and other travel-related mishaps.

Q. Does Bupa PMI cover me for private GP appointments?

A. No, although Bupa does have a separate service offering private GP appointments. However, these are not covered by its Medical Insurance and require you to pay upfront.

Bupa does have a 24/7 helpline staffed by medical professionals, however, which may come in useful if you have any medical concerns. Known as the Bupa Anytime HealthLine, it’s staffed by qualified nurses. If your question or symptoms go beyond their expertise, the helpline guarantees you’ll be called back by a GP within the hour.

Need Expert Health Insurance Advice?

As you can see, there are a lot of points to consider when comparing insurers. With so many factors in play, it can be time-consuming to pull up key information across every single insurer in the market, so why not ask an adviser for help?

Why Speak to Us…

We started Drewberry because we were tired of being treated like a number and not getting the service we all deserve when it comes to things as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.

• There is no fee for our service
• We are independent and impartial
  Drewberry isn’t tied to any insurance company, so we can provide completely impartial advice to make sure you get the most appropriate policy based solely on your needs.
• We’ve got bargaining power on our side
  This allows us to negotiate better premiums for you than you going direct yourself.
• You’ll speak to a dedicated expert from start to finish
  You will speak to a named expert with a direct telephone and email. No more automated machines and no more being sent from pillar to post – you’ll have someone to speak to who knows you.
• Benefit from our 5-star service
  We pride ourselves on providing a 5-star service, as can be seen from our 2335 and growing independent client reviews rating us at 4.92 / 5.
• Gain the protection of regulated advice
  You are protected. Where we provide a regulated advice service we are responsible for the policy we set-up for you. Doing it yourself or going direct to an insurer won’t provide this protection, so you won’t benefit from these securities.
• Claims support when you need it the most
  You have support should you need to make a claim. The most important thing when it comes to insurance is that claims are paid and quickly. We are here to support you during the claims process and make sure it’s as smooth and stress free as possible.

If it is all getting a little confusing and you want to talk you through your options to make sure you find the most suitable cover please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Pop us a call on 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.

Nadeem Farid
Head of Employee Benefits at Drewberry