Private Healthcare i.e. BUPA

bigmonkey712

bigmonkey712

bigmonkey712

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Joined
31 Aug 2008
Posts
41
Hi,

Can anyone help me out with the following query please?

Is Private Healthcare such as BUPA a membership scheme or a type of insurance?

Basically I have a sports injury that I would like to get treated but want to know if you can sign up and get treatment straight away if you already have an injury or do you have to wait a period of time before using the service?. (i.e. is it the same as getting house insurance knowing that your house will probably fall down tomorrow?)

Cheers

Stew
 
They're memberships really.. Some, like Pru-Health, will take on existing injuries but you'll need to consult your GP beforehand anyway.
My guess is, there will be a contractual agreement if you get treated, then discontinue your membership.

They can be quite expensive and you don't always get approval. If you get one as part of your work benefit, bear in mind this is a taxable benefit.
 
I would have thought you could get an already existing injury looked at, since that is the reason a lot of people take private healthcare, since they have gained an injury which might require more specialist or long term treatment.
 
In terms of insurance cover - it will exclude pre-existing conditions.

In terms of simply going to BUPA and asking them to treat you - yes, you can do this but you'll pay the bill yourself.
 
jr1104 said:
I would have thought you could get an already existing injury looked at
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Why would you think that? Pre-exsiting conditions aren't very profitable for them. They want people that don't get ill but continue paying their monthly fee.
 
Our company scheme allows for pre-existing conditions even if not declared at time of joining, there is probably an exclusions list but I've never seen it.
 
daz said:
But it still must be run in the best interest of the members - that would mean not necessarily insuring people with pre-existing conditions.
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I think it's really up to the company involved.

Our scheme here used to be WPA.. They were useless.. I couldn't get my knee sorted because I had some NHS treatment on it years ago. However, I have just had private health care approved from Pru knowing that it was an old condition.
 
bigmonkey712 said:
Hi,

Can anyone help me out with the following query please?

Is Private Healthcare such as BUPA a membership scheme or a type of insurance?

Basically I have a sports injury that I would like to get treated but want to know if you can sign up and get treatment straight away if you already have an injury or do you have to wait a period of time before using the service?. (i.e. is it the same as getting house insurance knowing that your house will probably fall down tomorrow?)

Cheers

Stew
Click to expand...

Do you think you could crash your car and then sign up for some insurance and claim?


No. So you can't do it with this.

Unless you happen to be lucky enough to join a policy which disregards all previous medical history, this is usually only with company policies though.
 
daz said:
But it still must be run in the best interest of the members - that would mean not necessarily insuring people with pre-existing conditions.
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My point is that they will assess at the injury and possible consequences. Some won't insure you, some will at a higher premium, some will with no extra cost. It depends on the company and the condition.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Our company scheme allows for pre-existing conditions even if not declared at time of joining, there is probably an exclusions list but I've never seen it.
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If it's a large company then it will generally be insured in a different way to individuals and you may well get coverage for pre-existing conditions.
The companies will have certain percentages added to their premiums depending whether they want to disregard the medical history of the group scheme members.


For the individual schemes you'll be asked to provide any instances you've been to see your GP or been to hospital in ther last x years when applying.
When you make your first claim for a specific condition then insurance company will generally send out a history and onset letter to your GP to check the history of your condition, so even if you don't declare something you may get refused coverage for it if it's decided you have a prior history after contact with your GP.
 
My AXA PPP covers existing conditions with a few exceptions. I think it depends what cover you choose though, they have different levels.
 
The wife and I are in BUPA and they WILL cover pre-existing conditions that are declared upon joining or found at the qualifying medical BUT your membership rate will be more expensive if you declare/they find a pre-existing medical condition.

They also reserve the right to terminate your membership after any major treatment - i.e. if they think it will cost too much to treat the same condition again. For example, my wife developed knee problems so they investigated and found she needed an operation to cut and rejoin the tendons on the knee cap. They did this (the treatment was excellent as was the aftercare) but come renewal time, they excluded all future knee issues from the policy unless it was directly attributable to the initial operation.

HTH.
 
daz said:
Why would you think that? Pre-exsiting conditions aren't very profitable for them. They want people that don't get ill but continue paying their monthly fee.
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But it gets them a customer that they wouldn't probably have otherwise. I think we might be talking about 2 different things, since I'm thinking more about private healthcare, than health insurance
 
Admiral Huddy said:
If you get one as part of your work benefit, bear in mind this is a taxable benefit.
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Not much to bear in mind if you're into sports etc.. well worth it IMO

Tax to pay on it is prob a hundred or so and in return for this I got an MRI scan within a few days of asking for one (worth £700) and several hundred on consultants & physio.

Definitely got value for money, would have been worth while paying for the insurance myself if it hadn't been provided by work.
 
Might as well ask in here, does any know, roughly how much BUPA Gold cover (25yr male) would cost? Need to consider the cost for a job application, and don't want to formally enquire yet.
 
Tax to pay on it is prob a hundred or so and in return for this I got an MRI scan within a few days of asking for one (worth £700) and several hundred on consultants & physio.
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When I broke my ankle I got an MRI scan on the NHS in 5 days - BUPA waiting list was 8 days - go figure.

However the resulting physio started 14 days after the results with BUPA whereas I'd have had to wait 28 days for the NHS referal.

Might as well ask in here, does any know, roughly how much BUPA Gold cover (25yr male) would cost? Need to consider the cost for a job application, and don't want to formally enquire yet.
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I was paying £40 5 years ago but that's crept up to £65 now as I've had a few accidents/issues since then.
 
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