Is BUPA Any Good?

EightImmortals on 11/06/2019 - 09:47

sigh We've gone our whole lives without PHI and I hear a lot of horror stories about it not being worth it as they don't pay much out if you make a claim Vs you do get access to private hospitals etc. Anyway, the BUPA marketing crowd are coming to the wife's work next week for a 'presentation' and she's thinking of signing us up for couples cover at some special 'corporate rate'. We are in our 50's and have no known health issues so I'm a little reticent in signing up for something we might not get much use out of. I noted that BUPA doesn't have a good rating on productreview but I don;t know if it's a case of people only speaking up when they have a bad experience or not. I am also clueless at to any financial incentives vis-a-vis income tax etc

Any advice appreciated.

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Comments

  • GangGang on 11/06/2019 - 09:53

    We just cancelled our extras cover. It came to a point that it was creeping up in cost and not using the cover as much anymore. I only used optical and rarely used physio. It made no sense to pay $1500+ in extras cover for the year when glasses are under around $200,depending on brand.

    Dental is another issue that you have to weigh out if it's worth it.

    We kept hospital.

  • Nugs on 11/06/2019 - 09:55

    We are with them because we were with Mutual Community who got bought out by Bupa.
    We look at changing every two years or so and never have.
    That's not to say they are the best, just no incentive to change as customer service is OK and much of a muchness for value.
    Our third child still has braces, so that alone was worth upgrading to extras.
    .

  • apsilon on 11/06/2019 - 10:38
    +2

    PHI is just that, insurance. Of course you may never use it just like you may never use house or car insurance but the unexpected happens. We're fortunate to have great public healthcare in Aust so PHI isn't a necessity but there are pros to it, you just need to decide if they're worth it to you. Having PHI also doesn't exclude you from using the public system.

    I've never used BUPA but may parents do. They're getting on in years and have had some significant medical expenses in the past 10 years. Bupa probably covered $60k between them for just two incidents in the space of 18 months a few years back plus all the regular stuff. Sure without it they could've gone through the public system but there were some nice things about being able to go private and not worry about the cost.

  • tks1432 on 11/06/2019 - 11:28

    I'm with BUPA Corporate Cover (hospital only). For extras, I'm with NIB as it caters to our needs. I have not made any claim from Bupa yet so does not know how good/bad it is, but it's Corporate Silver Plus is cheaper than others on the market. Our organisation also offers Medibank Corporate but it only allows Hospital+Extras, not a standalone hospital cover.

  • dazweeja on 11/06/2019 - 12:27

    The Ombudsman collects information such as complaints, % of hospital charges covered, etc, which I think is the best source of information for deciding which fund to go with:

    https://www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0035/974…

  • Jodav on 11/06/2019 - 18:27

    If you are happy for the profits to go to Britain then you could do worse. Personally I prefer the profits to stay in Australia so I would prefer Medibank Private or NIB. Better still, try a not for profit fund like HCF - much better score on Product Review too.

  • EightImmortals on 12/06/2019 - 06:24

    Thanks all. :)

  • Itburns on 12/06/2019 - 08:01

    My son (mid-20's) had a cardiac arrest at home. No history, perfect health, exercised, ate well etc. Fortunately survived with no serious outcomes. Had to have a pacemaker/defib inserted - all up costs $72,000. Lucky had insurance with HCF - they paid the lot. Just to show, anything can happen at any time. If you can afford it, take the insurance.
    Try HCI also.

  • dane45 on 12/06/2019 - 10:21

    I've previously been with BUPA, just switched to HCF because the extras limits better suited me. What I can say is that extras claims at BUPA are much easier, just enter the details into their app and you should get a refund instantly.

    Ultimately, the best advice you can take is to assess your needs, then shop around and weigh up the different options. I'd strongly advise signing up to anything on the spot. HCF did a similar thing at my workplace and the "discounted" plans they offered were actually worse value than what was available to the general public.

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