Bupa

[Nevman]

Has anyone of you guys and gals got BUPA health insurance and can explain me how it works, how much it cost and what are the benefits.
We are a bit fed up with the waiting times for hospital appointment and I've heard that BUPA can help.

Any info appreciated.

And yes, I've been to their website already so please don't post a link to their website.

[psbarham]

i used to have bupa cover through work, for some reason we changed to axa ppp ( they probably do better holidays or something :thinking: ) they are basically the same thing, all you do is go to the doctor and tell him 'ooh this hurts that hurts this has fallen off' etc he says you need x/y/z treatment and then you very smuggly say you have private health care and the doctor then arranges it all through the local posh hospital and 2 weeks later your back up and roller skating :inquisiti

[MPBVr4]

Not had BUPA but similar private health scheme. Certainly helps jump queue's
etc. However, if it's coming out of your pocket it can be quite expensiive up to £100 per month. (If company pays then it's OK but is a taxable benefit/pan ).
If you have pre-existing conditions they often won't accept risk. To claim you have to go thru certain procedures including a visit to the GP then get a refferal etc

I've dropped mine the money I was paying in(about £800/year)didn't justify any benefit I could gain.

Hope this helps:inquisiti

[bradc]

as you get older it is probably more important though, ehh Malc? :P

[MPBVr4]

as you get older it is probably more important though, ehh Malc? :P

Ya cheeky bu??er :happy:

The amount of money I was paying in I could have paid for 2 hip replacements, and still have money left for a hair transplant. /pan :P

Thats why i dumped it. (moneys in the bank now - just in case!)

[Spirit]

We pay for Axa PPP cover for our staff here.

They have different levels of cover, depending how much you want to pay and what cover you need etc. Age is the biggest factor in cost, but to give you an idea I have family cover for me, Shaz and Conor and it's £68pcm (Silver level), however I think we get a bit of a discount due to the number of people we pay for.

We pay for the cover for all our staff, but as Malc rightly says, it is a taxable benefit to them.

[bernmc]

From one who has to deal with the other side of the medical insurance companies...

BUPA are very good at paying up (this is actually quite important to you, their customer, because if the inurance co messes about with payment, the doctor will come after you directly - the bill is always ultimately your responsibility). They guarantee to pay within 30 days of the bill, else they cough up an extra £50!

AXA PPP are at the other end of the scale. I always grit my teeth when I see that a patient is with these guys. They are slow to pay, quick to argue the bill, and have recently become quite sticky about accepting new consultants as providors (so you may want treatment by a certain consultant with a good rep, but won't be able to get it as AXA don't recognise them). Again, if for any reason the inurance co doesn't meet the full bill, you'll be billed directly for the shortfall. It's not very nice for patients to hear that there's a possibility that their insurance may not pay in full.

WPA are very good - you're unlikely to have a shortfall with them. Standard life and Norwich union are somewhere inbetween. SL can be a bit sluggish to pay, NU have some of the lowest payments for procedures listed in their schedule, but they tend to pay what they are billed anyway (it's only the occasional bill that has a shortfall).

CIGNA have fairly low payment rates, and they will not pay more than their schedule, so you may well face a shortfall. Other guys like Legal and General, PRU etc are smaller players. L&G are a bit slow to pay, but pay the whole bill. I have a couple of bills with PRU that are hitting 90 days overdue, so those patients are facing a surprise...

In general, NHS waiting times are a lot better than they were, so you shouldn't have to wait too long. Personally, I'd only pay for private care if I had money to burn. If you do have extra cash, and getting seen and treated within days rather than weeks is important to you, the get some private insurance.

Just remember that what you save in premiums with the 'cheaper' company, you may well end up paying as a shortfall when you do need treatment.

[psbarham]

are axa really that bad bern? anglian water have just changed to their cover for its 3.5k staff and we have been told by the HR dept that the cover is of a higher level than bupa( or maybe the back hander was greater:thinking: )

[Nevman]

That helps a lot guys, especially BERNMC :2thumbsup
Looks like I need to think again if that's something I really want to go for right now.
Unless I'll convince my company to pay for it... :D

[bernmc]

are axa really that bad bern? anglian water have just changed to their cover for its 3.5k staff and we have been told by the HR dept that the cover is of a higher level than bupa( or maybe the back hander was greater:thinking: )

Not my favourite insurance co. I had a car insured with them a long time a go, and they were dreadful then as well, so we have a bit of a history.

I'll post some prices the various co's are willing to pay when I get home later, so you can see the difference.

To be fair, they've been pretty reasonable lately - it's a while since they've underpaid, but they still take a while to pay up...

[bernmc]

Roit. As an example, here is what the various insurance companies have in their schedule for a Total Hip Replacement. This is the maximum they will pay (for the anaesthetic component) for the procedure:

Norwich Union £348
AXA £350
BUPA £385
CIGNA £444
WPA £500

So I have a choice: I can simply accept the published fee, and bill that - ie allow the insurance co to dictate my fees. They will continue to try to push these prices down. Or I can charge what I believe my time and expertise are worth.

In the case of a THR, a fairly big op, WPA's £500 is the minimum I think is reasonable, so that's what everybody gets billed. If the patient's insurance co refuses to meet the whole bill, the patient has to meet the shortfall. (BUPA is slightly different as the offer a few incentives to people who stick to their fee schedule, so I always bill accordingly, and BUPA patients keep smiling :)).

Private Insurance is a tough, competative business. Credit crunches, reduced NHS waiting times, everybody and his mum trying to get on the act... they're desperate to get hold of your cash. Reducing premiums means they've got to try to squeeze someone - and at the moment it's the consultants doing the actual work.

[I-S]

Wow, that's some very interesting info Bern... I guess we never really consider it from that point of view.

Also makes me very glad I'm with WPA.

[Spirit]

Excellent info Bern, certainly means I will take a look at what we currently offer our staff.....being the nice boss I am /yes

[bernmc]

Wow, that's some very interesting info Bern... I guess we never really consider it from that point of view.

Also makes me very glad I'm with WPA.

Come here my pretty... :evilgrin:

Interestingly, I've just been doing some accounts. Axa used to only accept paper bills, and I regularly had shortfalls. A couple of months ago, they changed to the same electronic system that most of the other insurers use, and I don't think I've had shortfall since - despite charging according to WPA's schedule. So removing the human interface has benefitted me and the patients insured by them.

They're still making some unpleasant noises about limiting consultant recognition which goes against the grain - the whole point of Private Care is that you get to choose who you want to treat you.

The other thing to consider is where in the country you live and will be treated. Up here in the West Mids, there's not a huge amount of private practice, and plenty of providors. So most of us stick pretty close to insurance rates (or we just wouldn't get any business). Go to London and the more affluent areas in the South, and because there's so much work, much fewer consultants stick to published rates - you'll end up paying a shortfall no matter who you're insured by.

Pete, if they're affordable, BUPA or WPA are going to be best for your staff.

[Spirit]

Pete, if they're affordable, BUPA or WPA are going to be best for your staff.

Yeah, just tried to do a quote with WPA but their page keeps crashing.....will call them next week for a comparison quote.

[Spirit]

Just a follow up to this.

Thanks to Berns advice, I have today just completed the change from Axa PPP to WPA for all our staff.

Our renewal was due 1st October anyway, so the timing was perfect. We actually added another employee to the plan, and our premiums still came down £30 a month from what we have been paying Axa......AND they had a deal chucking in dental cover free for 12 months too.

So, thanks once again Bern :2thumbsup

[Physician]

I've somehow missed this thread until now.

What a superb amount of really useful information provided by Bern - especially as we are on a motoring website! I guess many of us can make far better informed decisions with this kind of background info.

I was always fortunate enough to have some pretty expensive, high level insurance paid for by my Companies including repatriation as I invariably worked overseas most of my life. However, as I'm sure Bern would agree, and I think to what Malc refers - NHS treatment times have dropped dramatically and many of the Consultants you may need to see are available within the NHS anyway. For certain health issues I will still go to BUPA privately and pay up, but otherwise, I have recently used the NHS and cannot give them higher praise at ALL levels.

Cudos Bern ...... and some brownie points, of course :)

[bernmc]

Just a follow up to this.

Thanks to Berns advice, I have today just completed the change from Axa PPP to WPA for all our staff.


Good man. Now buy a helicopter and send them to me when they get sick :D!

Yes Phys Pete, NHS waiting times are a lot better, thanks to my hard work and efficiency ;)!

The other problem facing Private Insurance companies is that a lot of private hospitals have joined the Extended Care Network (ECN). This means that they've made themselves available to NHS patients through the 'Choose and Book' scheme. Basically, if you go to your GP to get your hernia sorted, the Government has decreed that you MUST be given a choice of FIVE different places to have your treatment. If your local private hospital is part of the ECN, it'll come up as one of those choices.

So you can get your treatment in the Private Sector as an NHS patient (ie without paying anything). You don't get to choose your consultant as you would if you were pure private, but still...

This has actually backfired on these hospitals a bit. There used to be a sizeable population of wealthy people without insurance who would simply pay the hospital going rate to get private treatment (called Inclusive Care packages). Now that they can go to their GP and get the same service on the NHS, there's no incentive for them to spend money on inclusive care!

Which is why I've bracnched out into making people beautiful /lol

[Wodjno]

Which is why I've branched out into making people beautiful /lol

What even Ginger people :speechles

[Kieran]

What even Ginger people :speechles

Us Purebloods were created in the Maker's image and as such WE are the perfect ones. How dare you suggest otherwise. :veryangry

[bernmc]

What even Ginger people :speechles

You're talking crazy man!

[Kieran]

You're talking crazy man!

:speechles

:veryangry