BUPA - Worth it?

didac

My Company pays for my family BUPA health care, then the Inland Revenue reduce my tax code and therefore I end up paying more taxes.

So, is it really worth to have BUPA for me and my family? Everybody i talk with say it is. I'm not so convinced about that.

And if it is, that could be because people make the most of it. How can I do the best of my BUPA then?

Any ideas? or should I just give it up at once?

Ian_W

You are joking, aren't you?

Your company pay for health insurance for you and your family so that's a "benefit in kind" and taxable. Depending on your rate of tax you'll pay 20 [from April, 22% now] or 40% of the cost. Ergo 60 or 80% of the cost is free to you - will your co give you the money if you don't have BUPA? I doubt it -but if they will it's your choice as to whether you want to rely on the NHS and potential waiting lists if your wife or one of your kids gets sick or have speedier private treatment.

And if it is, that could be because people make the most of it. How can I do the best of my BUPA then?

Get seriously ill, need a triple heart bi-pass, chop your wife's leg off!!

I pay for my own BUPA cover which gets more expensive as you get older - personally I hope I never need it.

YorkshireBoy

My company provides it for me, and it costs me around £80-100 per annum in tax. I've never needed it, but I'd never give it up.

Are you even sure your employer will let you give it up? I know mine won't because, unbelievably, some of my colleagues have asked!

You hope it's something you'll never need, but just to put it into context, my boss (in his 50's) has had extensive surgery on his hips on BUPA...very quickly. He also pays an additional premium for his wife, and she's had over £20K of benefits from it over the last 3 years.

No offence, but anyone thinking of giving it up, especially free family cover, wants their head examining IMHO.

Ian_W

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

No offence, but anyone thinking of giving it up, especially free family cover, wants their head examining IMHO.

The OP might be able to get that done under BUPA?

Retired_I.F.A.

If everone ditched private medical insurance would we see shorter waiting lists on the NHS because surgeons have nowhere to moonlight?

Kaz2904

Personally I would never go with Bupa. In my local hospital we have a private ward. Any private patients go there. They are seen by a consultant but he doesn't work nights or weekends. He can be phoned at home and called in but it takes time for him to get in.
If someone is taken critically unwell overnight they are seen by the NHS staff for free.
I also know of someone who had an accident a few years ago. His Dad had BUPA cover so he was taken there. They then had to transfer him to NHS care because they didn't have the facilities to deal with him.
I've heard of other people who have had surgery and it has taken much longer than it should because a part has been dropped/malfunctioned/whatever. They then have to send an emergency ambulance to an nhs hospital for a spare because they don't have one (because it's a buisness and it's not cost effective to have 2 of everything available)

Zebedee69

Kaz2904 wrote: »

They then have to send an emergency ambulance to an nhs hospital for a spare because they don't have one (because it's a buisness and it's not cost effective to have 2 of everything available)

Doubt this, Il vouch for BUPA anyday........ NHS is in a right state at the moment. Id rather go to a private hospital because atleast you will get a full nights sleep and not be woken up by slightly mental old dears who dont know their name or where they are:rolleyes:

Oh, need we mention C-Diff or MRSA?.............

Take me to the ward with the carpets and the Sky TV please lmao!

shelly

My hubby has BUPA partly paid for by work and I am on the policy. Unfortunately I needed to claim from them a couple of years ago and the only thing that narked me off was in the beginning it was a bit of hassle sorting out the paperwork.
Once that was sorted though I couldn't fault them. I chose when to have my surgery and had a room of my own.

Even though my condition would have been dealt with immediately by the NHS I used the BUPA cover a) because it was there b) I didn't want to take up a NHS bed that someone else could have
Also there were a couple of procedures during my diagnosis that were done on the NHS. I can't fault the NHS either.

Soubrette

Retired_I.F.A. wrote: »

If everone ditched private medical insurance would we see shorter waiting lists on the NHS because surgeons have nowhere to moonlight?

No but they would be shorter because MPs won't want to wait 6 months plus for any health issues that they have.

Sou

hollydays

We have private medical insurance withh OH`s job.When I was ill,I needed some tests, to help diagnose,and discovered our policy doesnt cover you until you have been referred to a consultant. This has been dragging on a while now,and I am still in pain.We opted to have one test done privately cost £250.

Microstar_2

BUPA is not always best. I had a minor operation (day case) done in a BUPA hospital. Couple of days later I was in discomfort and there was an obvious infection within the wound.
I couldn't get hold of the surgeon who had done the op and hospital were not at all helpful (I suspect there was no money in following up a problem of their making). They told me to see my GP, which I thought was a bit cheeky.
I ended up going to the local NHS A&E and was seen by a very nice South African doctor who gave me antibiotics etc., and then had follow-up from my GP. I was off work for two weeks and in a fair bit of pain for much of that time. Private health care does talk a good story (witness the latest BUPA TV ads) but when there are problems they don't seem to want to know. They also tend to deal only with relatively straightforward cases - goodness knows what we'd be paying if they were dealing with traffic accidents, chronic geriatric diseases etc etc.