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Bupa health insurance offers comprehensive cover, including cancer treatment, mental health support, and fast access to specialists and private hospitals. You also get online, phone and in-person GP appointments, dental benefits and flexibility to shape cover to your needs and budget.
Highlights of Bupa’s health insurance coverage:
Two main options: cover for diagnosis and treatment, or just treatment, with diagnosis usually done via the NHS.
Cancer cover included as standard.
Mental health cover.
Outpatient therapies.
Choice of hospitals.
Parent accommodation.
Online and phone access to GPs and nurses.
In this guide to Bupa health insurance, we look in more detail at what is and isn't covered, and how you can tailor your policy so that it’s right for your needs and budget.
We’ve done our best to ensure the information on this page is accurate and up to date at the time of writing. However, insurers can change their terms, pricing and cover at any time. This page is for general information only and is not a substitute for full policy documentation, which you should always review to help you confirm that the cover meets your individual needs.
Our specialist advisers can walk you through Bupa’s core cover and optional extras, and check for any current offers. They’ll also compare Bupa’s cover and premiums with other leading UK providers so you can see if there’s a better fit for your needs and budget. Call 0800 144 4777 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or start your quotation online now.
Bupa give you the flexibility to tailor your cover to fit your needs. You can shape it to match what matters most to you, as well as your budget.
First, you can choose between two main policy types:
Comprehensive policies: Bupa’s top level of insurance that covers private tests, scans and diagnosis, as well as treatment.
Treatment and Care policies: More affordable cover where tests, scans and diagnosis are not covered, so they are done via the NHS or can be paid for separately. Treatment is covered just the same as with Comprehensive policies.
You can take either of these out on an individual, couple or family basis. If you do include children on your policy, you’ll only pay for the eldest, no matter how many children you add.
Next, you can either have your costs covered in full, or only up to a limit you choose. For example, if you agree a limit of £1,000 and your treatment costs £1,200, Bupa will pay £1,000 and you’ll pay £200. The lower the limit you choose, the more your premiums will reduce by.
Also, you can choose to have access to a small or large number of private hospitals. The more hospitals you decide to have access to, the more your policy will cost.
And of course, you’ll have the reassurance of being covered by one of the UK’s most established health insurance providers. Bupa provide health insurance to almost 4 million people in the UK, and is one of the most-established providers in the country.
These are the benefits you get as standard with a Bupa health insurance policy. You’re covered for essentials like inpatient treatment and cancer care, with the option of including diagnosis or leaving that to the NHS.
Benefit | What’s included |
|---|---|
GP appointments | Access to in-person GP appointments at Bupa Health Centres. There’s no excess to pay and it won’t affect your no claims discount or low claims bonus. |
Outpatient tests and appointments before treatment | Covered when referred by a GP, consultant or some other healthcare practitioners with Comprehensive policies, but not with Treatment and Care policies. |
Inpatient and day patient hospital treatment | Hospital charges in full, including accommodation, meals, nursing, drugs, surgical dressings, theatre fees etc. |
Tests and appointments after treatment | Tests and appointments linked to the treatment you’ve had, either while you’re staying in hospital or as an outpatient. |
Outpatient therapies | Therapies such as physiotherapy that doesn’t involve an overnight stay. |
Cancer care | The full cost of eligible cancer treatments, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and stem cell transplants. Included on every policy as standard, but can be removed if you wish. |
Mental health care | Outpatient treatment from a consultant or mental health and wellbeing therapist, covered for the full cost or up to a limit of your choice. Can also include cover for hospital admission, depending on your individual policy. |
Dental appointment | One appointment with Bupa Dental Care each year for everyone on your policy, which can be used for a check-up or for emergency care. You’ll also get a £300 allowance towards treatment including crowns or fillings. |
Digital healthcare | Via the My Bupa app you can talk to GPs, nurses, physios and mental health specialists, and book video or audio appointments, including during evenings, weekends and bank holidays. |
Anytime HealthLine | Access via a 24-hour phone line to GPs and nurses, with no limit to the number of times you can call. |
Family Mental HealthLine | This is a telephone service where you can talk about your child’s emotional wellbeing to a trained adviser or mental health nurse. |
Menopause HealthLine | You can talk to menopause-trained nurses and receive advice and guidance on everything from what to expect with the menopause, to diet, health and exercise. |
NHS hospital cash payment | A cash payment if you have inpatient treatment through the NHS instead of using your health cover. |
NHS cancer cash payment | A cash payment of £100 for each night for NHS inpatient treatment, £100 for NHS outpatient, day-patient or home treatment, or £100 for each three-weekly period of oral chemotherapy or oral anti-hormone therapy not available from a GP. |
Private ambulance | Cover for up to £60 per journey where medically necessary. |
Parent accommodation | One parent covered if a child under 17 receives covered treatment in hospital. |
Bupa go beyond treatment and access to GPs and nurses, with some great discounts on wellbeing services to further look after your health and fitness:
Discounts off Bupa health assessments, which include tests and examinations from health advisers or GPs.
A free initial GP consultation followed by 10% off the Bupa Weight Management Plan, which includes monthly calls with lifestyle coaches.
A great saving on the Hussle Monthly+ Pass, which provides unlimited access to thousands of gyms, pools and spas across the UK.
Bupa are all about flexibility, with a range of options to help you match your cover with your needs and your budget.
Option | How it works |
|---|---|
Policy limit | Have your costs covered in full, or only up to a limit you choose. |
Choice of three hospital lists | Choose from Essential Access, Extended Choice or Extended Choice with Central London. |
No cancer cover | You can choose to have cancer cover removed from your policy. |
Excess options | Choose to pay the first £100, £150, £200, £250, £500, £1,000 or £2,000 of your eligible treatment costs in any policy year. |
As with health insurance generally, Bupa cover acute conditions rather than ongoing or chronic issues. Standard exclusions include:
Pre-existing conditions.
Fertility treatment.
Allergies and food intolerances.
Chronic long-term conditions (but cancer and mental health issues are covered).
Cosmetic treatments and surgery.
Sleeping disorders.
Dialysis.
Pregnancy and childbirth.
Treatment and Care policy - outpatient appointments, tests and scans.
These exclusions are fairly standard across most leading health insurers; if policies covered all of these conditions, premiums would be unrealistically high.
Bupa’s Comprehensive policy lives up to its name, with extensive diagnosis and treatment covered. But like any insurer, Bupa may not be the best fit. Here’s a look at where Bupa’s offering may not be right for you:
Other insurers may have a bigger list of optional extras, such as for optical and hearing support.
Some other insurers offer more extensive perks and rewards.
Some dental cover is standard, but includes just one annual appointment, for a check-up or emergency care. If you want more comprehensive dental cover, there is an optional extra that provides this.
It’s important to be clear on what you need from health insurance, and what any provider you are considering does and doesn’t include in their policy. By comparing policies and quotes, and accessing advice on what may work best for you, you can be more certain of getting the coverage you need.
Bupa is perhaps the most recognisable name in UK health insurance, but that doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the best choice for you. As with all providers, make sure you carefully consider Bupa’s coverage and think about whether it matches your needs.
Certainly there is a lot to be positive about. Bupa’s Comprehensive policy provides solid cover for tests, diagnosis and treatment, with cancer care that isn’t included as standard on every insurer’s policy. But if you are happy to stay within the NHS for the tests and diagnosis, the money-saving Treatment and Care policy is an option worth looking into.
Bupa also offers a Direct Access feature. This means you can contact them about some symptoms without a GP referral. This includes cancer, mental health, and muscle, bone and joint symptoms.
However, it may not be the best fit for everyone. For example, optical and hearing support isn’t included, although some insurers who do provide it only cover routine sight or hearing tests.
As with most private medical insurance, pre-existing conditions are typically excluded, so it’s important to check the terms and underwriting options carefully before deciding.
Our health insurance advisers can help. They will review your circumstances, talk you through Bupa’s coverage, and help you compare it against the other leading UK health insurers. Call us on 0800 144 4777 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or request a call back at a time that suits you.
Bupa was created in 1947 with the purpose to ‘prevent, relieve and cure sickness and ill-health of every kind’. The company provide personal, family and company health insurance to close to 4 million people. Bupa also run health centres and over 110 homes and 10 retirement villages in the UK, employing over 1,400 nurses and over 5,500 carers.
