Bupa health insurance

KareenaMukherjee

I've been part of Bupa now for 4 years. I joined when i was 27, and was quoted £55 for the fully comprehensive cover. Didn't have any existing conditions then, so i felt it was pretty reasonable.

I went to see a consultant once, and had a few tests done, because i thought well i'm with BUPA, might as well! Isn't that what having health insurance is about, getting tested straight away. Anyways a few weeks after getting the consultation, and a few tests (everything was all clear), my insurance went up close to 50% to £75!

Now all i had was a single consultation with a consultant, and one blood test. That's all. They claimed they put insurance up because they increase it every year cos i'm getting older (erm this was at 28), and because when they have alot of claims in one year everyones goes up! I thought that reason was fake, and my claim put my insurance up. They deny this.

Now, they've put it up again to £79! I'm really annoyed by this. Never again have i made a claim, and still it goes up. It's nigh on a thousand pounds a year.

If i was to go see a consultant, it would cost me £250, few blood tests here and there say £500. This would be cheaper than the insurance! The only way i will save anything is if something horrendous did happen to me and i needed an operation, then i'm sure it would come in handy.

But even then, how much are operations? If i was to have a hip replacement, how much would one be? Is there a place i can find out the rough cost of operations? Say in 20 years time i needed an operation, when i'm approaching my 50's ... i would have payed close to £25,000 ... and that's not factoring in how the private medical insurance industry would be then, and how much my insurance would go up in that time.

And as we know this is private insurance, i could be paying all these costs and when it comes to actually having an operation and claiming, they'll say oh you didn't declare you had a headache back in 2007' when you joined, or something idiotic like that and refuse to pay for the operation.

Anyone have any views on this?

Nicki

We have private medical insurance and have used it A LOT for me and 2 of the 3 kids. Some of it has been pretty expensive stuff, including surgeries. We recently claimed around £15k worth of expenses for some investigatory treatment for my DD. I have never had anything declined, and never had any investigation into my medical history. Can't really comment on premium rises as my OH's employer deducts the cost direct from his salary so we don't notice those.

If you aren't ill a lot and feel disciplined enough to self insure you could just save the equivalent amount to your premium in a bank account and only use it for medical things. Trouble with self insurance though is if it's a big claim, you can't always pay out.

Rockporkchop

Practical advice would be to get some quotes from the other medical insurance providers - there are dozens of them and Bupa is one of the dearest. If you offer to pay a voluntary excess it should bring the monthly cost down quite a bit.

But to be honest, I'm puzzled about why you are so concerned about having medical insurance at your age, and particularly why you are worried about things like hip replacements. Assuming you are fit and healthy and don't have any genetic conditions in the family, then why not just take your chances with the NHS?

Meant to say that all insurance goes up every year regardless of whether you claim on it, my car and house insurance certainly does. It's just the climate.

ktb

I got my renewal for mu BUPA today actually and it has gone up from £121 to £138 - eeek! I am only 32 and when I started the policy had no previous conditions, but it has pretty much rocketed up over the last 10 years due to a number of ongoing problems with my reproductive system which mean I have had fairly frequent appointments and a couple of operations.

I won't be without it though, as well as making good use of it myself, without question my Mum wouldn't be here today if it weren't for her BUPA - she was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of Breast Cancer in 2005 (after being misdiagnosed by the NHS for over 6 months!!!) and then a secondary tumour on her liver in 2007.... due to her having private health insurance she was able to access Herceptin immediately, which worked amazingly and so today she is a picture of health and as 'all clear' as you can be with an secondary tumour!

Although many of the consultants do both NHS & private work, you just can't guarantee getting access all the drugs and most up to date treatments you need on the NHS. I can afford it at the moment (& would prioritise it anyway) so for me it is worth every penny - just in case.

Spendless

We have family cover thru my husband's employer and me and DH have used it a few times. Very useful in getting seen quickly and sometimes very comfortable surroundings if you are in a private hospital too, but not always. Due to geographical location I had an op on BUPA at an NHS hospital with a surgeon who did both NHS and private work. It was just as well I did, as a few years later when I rang for my MRI scan BUPA refused to cover it saying they didn't cover my condition cos it was bengin, which made no sense at all as the condition is always benign and they'd found it on their database and that they didn't cover monitoring, but they'd paid for the prev 2/3 years!! So I'm not overly impressed that they can play a 'get out' clause when they will happily receive a premium.

Darlyd

I joined with HSA about 5 years ago, I have used them twice, and to be fair the policy has not gone up much, and I have added surgery on, added DH on with surgery and 2 kids for diagnosis, they changed it to simply health now and I pay just over £68 month for all of us... Can't fault them. Bupa wanted more than double with something missing, can't remember quite what.

What they are charging you does seem quite extreme though, there are cheaper out there, even cheaper than simply health (AKA HSA) But I am staying with these because I don't want to do that 2 year thing.

mountainofdebt

What sort of work are you in OP?

The reason I ask is that there is a medical insurance provider for people who work in certain areas (I think local government,chartities etc) which only cost a few £s a week. It begins with B but I can't remember what its called.

neverdespairgirl

Rockporkchop wrote: »

Assuming you are fit and healthy and don't have any genetic conditions in the family, then why not just take your chances with the NHS?

One good reason is if you're self-employed, and don't get any form of sick pay.

Nicki

mountainofdebt wrote: »

What sort of work are you in OP?

The reason I ask is that there is a medical insurance provider for people who work in certain areas (I think local government,chartities etc) which only cost a few £s a week. It begins with B but I can't remember what its called.

Benenden?

Zzzz

tankengine_2

I've got medical insurance with pruhealth/prudential... i took it out earlier this year with an online comparison website, i think they're called Active Quote or Activate Quote, they act as an online broker for this type of insurance.

i've got diabetes which will never be covered by the insurance policy, but any other conditions i develop will be covered which suits me just fine.

:j

NEH

That's about standard price for health insurance. I had Aviva years ago when I was younger and it was about £70 something in my 20's with one condition diagnosed whilst I had the policy.

To be honest though health care policies are changing and some of the big names are now imposing limits on even Cancer treatment. They don't cover as much as they used to. For example my condition now if I wanted private health care it wouldn't be covered whereas before it was and any complications surrounding it.

I think you need to ask yourself how good is your local NHS at it were and what is provided etc and then consider your options. Also go and see or speak to a broker as they can be quite good at finding the right policy for you.