Bupa business health insurance

Bupa's Select business health insurance policy offers different features depending on business size. Bupa health insurance for small businesses provides coverage and services for companies with up to 249 employees, while their corporate health insurance policy covers firms with 250+ employees.

Health insurance can help employees access treatment and return to work more quickly after an illness. You can choose the level of cover that suits your business, and there are various options to help you tailor your policy to manage your budget.

Bupa Health Insurance aims to offer an extensive range of treatments and services with cover at different levels to suit your budget. Most health insurance policies include core coverage for in-patient care, cancer treatment and mental health cover and only cover out-patient treatment if you pay extra to add it to your policy.

Instead, a Bupa health insurance policy includes in-patient and out-patient care, but you can choose from four levels, each offering more comprehensive coverage than the last. Each cover level is named separately as follows:

Level 1 - Select Custom

Level 2 - Select Key

Level 3 - Select Enhanced

Level 4 - Select Complete

In-patient treatment

Bupa's health insurance literature refers to in-patient treatment as 'hospital care'. If your treatment involves a hospital admission, it covers your accommodation costs, treatment including surgery, consultant's fees, nursing and drugs and dressings.

Your employees can have treatment in any hospital on your chosen hospital list or with a Bupa fee-assured consultant. Each policy level provides the same level of cover.

Out-patient treatment

Cover for out-patient treatment, where your employees can receive treatment without being admitted to a hospital, increases with each of the four policy levels. It pays for diagnostic tests, out-patient surgeries and physical therapy such as physiotherapy. You can choose unlimited cover at level 4 or annual cover limits of £500, £1000 or £1500, depending on your priorities and budget.

Cancer cover

Comprehensive cancer cover is part of every health insurance policy's core coverage. You'll find the same level of cover whichever Bupa health insurance option you choose.

Policies cover diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, radiography and drugs currently unavailable via the NHS. Your employees can also opt to have chemotherapy at home, access specialist counselling, and receive end-of-life care if needed.

Mental health cover

Bupa health insurance covers more mental health conditions than any other insurer, including funding one course of addiction treatment, which other health insurance providers commonly exclude. However, the policy doesn't cover conditions like dementia or developmental or behavioural issues.

The available treatments include face-to-face or online therapy and up to 45 days of in-patient or day-patient psychiatric care, whichever policy level you choose.

Diagnostic scans

Every policy level includes complex diagnostic scans such as MRI, PET or CT scans if a consultant requests them.

Complementary medicine

Complementary therapies are becoming more popular, and your business health insurance can pay for acupuncture, osteopathy or chiropractic treatment. However, the complementary therapy allowances included at each level of your business health insurance come from out-patient limits rather than a separate allowance.

For example, you might choose an out-patient limit of £500; you can use £250 of that on complementary therapies. If the cost exceeds that, your employee must pay the balance.

Other services

In common with other health insurers, Bupa health insurance includes additional services regardless of the level of coverage you choose. These include 24/7 virtual GP appointments and telephone support from nurses and specialist menopause advisers. Your employees can also seek support for mental wellbeing worries from their family mental healthline. Bupa Insurance also offers direct access to treatment for cancer, mental health concerns and musculoskeletal issues.

If your employee has NHS treatment, they can claim a cash benefit, which pays cashback depending on the type of treatment they've received.

Hospital list

Bupa Insurance operates a network of private hospitals and treatment centres throughout the UK. Levels 1-3 provide access to over 300 facilities, while level 4 lets your employees choose from over 600 facilities.

You can also opt for guided care, which is cheaper and gives employees a more limited shortlist of consultants or hospitals when they claim. Bupa's directory includes NHS hospitals and other private providers' facilities. The facilities employees can access depend on your coverage, so always check the small print.

Bupa's optional extras are available as standalone policies if you aren't able to provide health insurance to your workforce. You can access wellbeing support and dental insurance separately or add it to your health insurance.

Dental cover

Bupa Insurance offers two dental plans, both with five levels of coverage. The Bupa dental plan covers routine care such as check-ups, a scale and polish and treatments such as fillings and extractions. Bupa will also pay 80% towards major restorative dental work.

Bupa's dental choice plan includes routine check-ups and treatments but offers coverage for cosmetic dentistry and dentures, which the basic plan doesn't.

Your employees can book appointments with a Bupa dental care practice or stick with their current dentist if registered. Both plans offer discounted treatment and cover oral cancer and emergency treatment at home or abroad.

Whichever plan you choose, your employees can seek advice from Bupa's dental care support line, book a virtual check-up and receive rewards from Bupa's everyday rewards plan. If they use a participating Bupa dental practice, they can also claim via the instant claim service for quick payments after treatment.

Wellbeing support

You can offer wellbeing support services on their own or add selected services to your company health insurance. Some services, such as virtual GP services, telephone helplines and support for musculoskeletal problems, are included in health insurance.

You can also add:

• An employee assistance programme with counselling and ad hoc support.
• Women's healthcare services for period and menopause support.
• Mental healthcare cover including counselling and workplace training.
• Employee health assessments.
• Workplace flu vaccinations.
• A cash plan paying cashback on regular health expenses.

Bupa's Select policy for corporate customers offers a broader range of services to reflect the demands of managing a larger workforce. If you have 300+ employees, you can choose Bupa Balance, which provides virtual GP appointments, healthcare helplines, health checks and access to out-patient treatment, but not cancer care, in-patient treatment or a health cash plan.

We'll focus on the Select policy here.

Bupa's corporate health insurance lets you tailor coverage levels to suit your needs and budget. Select Complete has the most comprehensive coverage, paying for all treatments in full. The policy includes:

• In-patient and day-patient care.
• Out-patient treatment, including diagnostic tests and scans.
• Full cancer cover at every coverage level.
• Mental health cover, including Business Mental Health Advantage, provides treatment for chronic conditions.

You'll find some of the same optional extras here as those offered with the small business health plan, including health assessments, dental insurance, vaccinations, nursing helplines and cashback on routine expenses.

Bupa's Mind Matters service offers various mental wellbeing support services, including an employee assistance programme, stress management training for line managers and change management or critical incident support.

In addition to the healthcare services already mentioned, Bupa's mental health hub provides information to support your team, even if you don't have private medical insurance with them. Employees can also access the mental healthline for advice on their or their children's mental wellbeing.

Bupa's services include health insights and support to help you develop a workplace wellbeing strategy. The Bupa Academy provides training on health and wellbeing and workplace health risks.

You can also add occupational health services if needed.

As with every health insurer, Bupa's company health insurance has exclusions, meaning some conditions aren't covered. You can find a complete list of Bupa's policy exclusions here. They include cosmetic surgery, emergency care and allergy treatment. The policy also excludes chronic conditions that need ongoing management.

Health insurance typically excludes pre-existing conditions for the first two years after an employee joins the policy. However, if you opt for medical history disregarded underwriting, this won't apply.

Otherwise, you can choose between moratorium and full medical underwriting. Both exclude health conditions for which an employee has sought medical advice or treatment during the five years before they joined the policy. They'll need to provide medical information upfront with full medical underwriting. Otherwise, Bupa will check for exclusions when they claim.

Globacare is a specialist broker helping businesses find the right cover for their employees. Contact us for tailored advice on the best health insurance for your business.

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