Anyone got Bupa?

Special K

I just got off the phone with Bupa. Consultant has recommended surgery to remove tissue that, whilst not malignant, carries a risk of future malignancy / cancer.

Bupa has picked up on the fact that this is preventative and decided it will not cover the procedure (for a TOTAL cost of £1700ish)

They did confirm that I am covered, to an unlimited amount, for cancer treatments.

Medically / ethically / sensibly - this is mad.

Behind the medical aspects there is some actuarial and risk modelling because they are a an insurance business after all. But can it really add up that the business is better off taking on a known high risk at unlimited cost, versus taking a low risk route with a known small cost?

Mad. Confirmed my view that Actuaries are far too pleased with themselves to be of any use to society at large.

spen666

its not the actuaries , but those who make the decisions based on the actuaries figures is it not?

Gavin Gilbert

spen666 wrote:

its not the actuaries , but those who make the decisions based on the actuaries figures is it not?

True, it will be the Underwriter, not the Actuary. Probably based on a frequency v severity model.

A bummer for the OP 'lo

pneumatic

BUPA!!!! Don't get me started! But you have!!

My father joined BUPA when it was founded in 1950-something. It was a company perk for him and his spouse. He remained a member for the rest of his life (latterly at his own considerable expense). My mother is still a member, paying what seems to me to be an eye-watering annual premium.

For decades, they never used it (except once for a simple bit of day surgery). Then my dad got ill and the fun and games started. They limited their contribution to his treatment, making him pay the rest, and refused to pay for various things he needed to keep him alive. He was a decent old soul, didn't want to make a fuss, so just paid up until he passed away.

Last summer my mother was hospitalised suddenly. She was put on a geriatric ward with two demented wailing old ladies and she was quite distressed. I flew down to visit her and said "It's ok, you're in BUPA, we'll get you transferred to a private room."

I went on their website to look for a phone number. Try it yourself. Nothing but sales lines. Eventually in the bowels of their site, I found a number that looked promising. I phoned it. The first response to my enquiry was "Where did you get this number from?"

They gave me another number to phone. "What is your ten-digit membership number?" Didn't know. Phoned back the other number "Oh, just hold the line for 30 seconds and you'll get put through anyway." Did this and got through. [Imagine trying this if you are old and sick!]

What BUPA spend my mother's premium on is making their customer services assistants bomb-proof and unctuously sympathetic. Calm the caller down and do nothing for them. It was politely explained to me that I needed a BUPA-approved consultant to refer my mother to them for consideration for private treatment and that, since it was (by then) Friday night on a bank holiday weekend, there was nothing that could be done until Tuesday, anyway.

I relayed all this to my old mum, who said, "Let's not make a fuss, eh?" So the NHS treated her for 3 weeks, instead. And very well, I might add.

Still seething I phoned BUPA to ask them WTF was the point in paying for a service that was not accessible. After more soothing sympathy, I was told to fill in a form so that she could reclaim 20 quid a night to cover her incidental expenses in hospital. Laughable, but I filled in the form and sent it off. A year passed and nothing happened them my mum phoned up about something else and said "By the way, what about this money?" "Oh we are so sorry, it seems to have slipped through the net", said the woman. The cheque arrived a few days later.

Every time I see the word BUPA, my blood boils. I have nothing but contempt for them. I have stood by and watched both my parents be repeatedly mugged by these B8stards.

Have nothing to do with them.

guinea

BUPA are fine if you're not sick.

My partner got severe nuerological symptoms. BUPA paid for one assessment and a scan then the money ran out. There is a tiny cap on the cash you can spend getting a diagnosis.

The doctor who was helping her had an NHS hospoital. We were refered there and got the same service free with no wait.

I have the option of BUPA at my work but wouldn't even think about taking it.

Special K

Thanks for your responses.

Seems I that the gap between my expectations and the actual level of care I am entitled to is pretty large. And this gap is of my own making really.

Amazingly even though I part of a very large company, and therefore a very good client to BUPA, the call centre monkey I spoke to who handles the account for us with BUPA was as useless. "We signed a contract...terms and conditions....". Wow. There really are some irritating and pointless people out there.

Anyway, thanks again for your words. Although I am not ready to concede, the experience has "informed" me.