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Questions about providing Bupa health cover as part of your staff benefits package

How will my business benefit from providing Bupa health insurance? Hide

Time off work due to sickness can affect your profits in a major way. Anything you can do to help your employees to stay fit, well and at work could help to keep these costs down.

Whether you have two or 250 employees, with business health insurance from Bupa, you’ll have the reassurance of knowing that if anyone should fall ill, they have prompt access to diagnosis and treatment. With access to over 20,000 recognised consultants at a time and place to suit your staff, disruption to work schedules should also be minimised.

Are there any other benefits for small or medium sized businesses? Hide

Offering Bupa business health insurance as part of a benefits package can act as an attractive recruitment and retention tool in a competitive economic climate. It also communicates to your employees that their health and wellbeing is important; something that can make a positive difference to how your business is perceived by potential employees and clients alike.

Why choose Bupa business health insurance over a competitor’s? Hide

Healthcare is our only focus
Bupa has specialised in health and care for over 60 years and we look after the health and wellbeing of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses across the UK. With Bupa, you and your employees can make informed decisions about their care and have access to healthcare that best fits with their lives, personal circumstances, and individual wishes.

Outstanding service levels
Choose Bupa for your business health insurance and you can be sure that we'll be there when you need us. We offer outstanding levels of customer service and an impressive range of healthcare support services.

You and your employees will only be treated by consultants who are experts in their field. For certain conditions, including cancer, we have teams of specialists in dedicated treatment centres who will help, advise and guide you every step of the way.

Trusted by millions
Over 30,000 businesses already trust Bupa to provide their business health insurance. When you choose Bupa, you'll know that you're choosing a trusted brand with an outstanding reputation.

No shareholders
Bupa doesn't have shareholders, our profits are invested back into the services we offer so that we can continue to improve your health and care.

More than health cover
With Bupa, you also have access to a range of benefits for employees to keep them in the best of health all year round, at no extra cost. These include a free 24-hour HealthLine, and an interactive online health assessment. There is also a wealth of information on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of certain conditions including cancer, bone and joint conditions and mental health issues.

How can I make the cost more manageable? Hide

Your business health insurance plan can be tailored to help you control the costs. You can allow employees to pay higher excesses, decrease certain elements of cover, or even exclude some elements completely; meaning you don’t have to pay for benefits your employees are unlikely to use.

The Six Week scheme is another flexible option that offers a discount of up to 20 percent. If a member is unfortunate enough to fall ill, they will receive all the advantages of Bupa membership while they go through the diagnostic process. Once treatment is prescribed, if the NHS can provide it within six weeks of the treatment date recommended by the consultant, then the patient will treated on the NHS. However, if NHS treatment can’t be supplied within six weeks, the member is given prompt access to Bupa private healthcare. But either way, eligible treatment will take place within six weeks.

What service can my business expect? Hide

Bupa’s dedicated, UK-based sales team are solely devoted to fulfilling the needs and requirements of businesses like yours. You can be reassured that we have exceptional service levels with over 90 percent overall customer satisfaction. From the start, your dedicated account manager, a healthcare specialist, will work closely with you to gain a thorough understanding of your business. Only then will we provide a business health insurance plan tailored to your specific requirements.

I already have business health insurance, is it easy to switch to Bupa? Hide

It’s easy to make the move to Bupa. Our healthcare advisers are there to make the process quick and smooth, with minimum paperwork. Give us a call to discuss the best options for you so we can ensure you enjoy unbroken cover.

Does Bupa business health insurance offer any tax benefits for employers? Hide

Health insurance is a taxable non-cash benefit; the extras employees receive from their employer in addition to their salary. In tax terms, as a ‘benefit in kind’, health insurance is treated as additional taxable income where employees earn more than £8,500 per year. So, as an employer, you will obtain corporation tax relief for the full value of the premium. Your employees’ taxable benefit may be on a lower value as some of the benefits provided by Bupa business health insurance may attract a P11D dispensation. Please consult your relevant tax district for more information.

What if I am a sole trader? Hide

Our Bupa By You health insurance product is designed to provide sole traders both value and flexibility. In addition to a comprehensive core of benefits, there are a number of options that you can tailor to your requirements and budget. We can also provide cover for dental, optical, complementary therapies and travel. To find out more or to discuss your requirements, please contact one of our health advisers on 0800 600 500*.

What information do you need to give me a quote? Hide

Our dedicated team of business health insurance advisers will work closely with you to design a solution that provides the most appropriate, effective cover for your employees.
In order to provide you with a quote, we only need the following information:

• company contact name
• company name
• address
• number of employees requiring cover and approximate ages

You can provide this information to us on an email.

What other Bupa products could benefit my business? Hide

We are most known for our health insurance but we also offer information, services and products that could reduce levels of employee absence through illness and help your employees find healthy, including:

Bupa Dental Cover – cover for routine treatments such as examinations, scale and polish and market leading oral cancer cover

Bupa Cash Plan – flexible plans that are designed to give your employees cash back towards everyday health costs

Bupa Health Assessments – designed to detect potential health issues and provide an action plan to minimise these risks before they become a problem

Bupa Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – can help your employees identify and combat issues such as bullying, harassment and stress before they affect performance

Bupa Absence Management – designed to give employers a true picture of the impact of sickness absence and offers recommendations to reverse trends

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Questions about the cover provided by Bupa

How many employees can I cover? Hide

Bupa business health insurance can be tailored for businesses with as few as two employees up to 250 employees. If you're looking to cover more than 250 employees please view the details of our corporate health insurance.

Can I cover my family, too? Hide

Yes. If you have chosen family cover you can include your spouse/partner and any dependent children up to the age of 24 who live with you at your address.

What if all my employees are family members? Hide

If your family members work for your company they can be covered under your business health insurance plan. This is often more cost effective than having individual policies.

What can employees claim for? Hide

Bupa business health insurance consists of an extensive core of benefits with a selection of flexible options to allow you to tailor your cover to your requirements and budget.

The core benefits provide cover for a wide range of diagnostics, hospital care and in- and out-patient treatments including consultants’ fees, hospital accommodation and MRI, CT and PET scans.

The flexible options allow you to increase or reduce your level of cover to match your healthcare priorities, allow employees to pay an excess or even exclude some elements completely. A summary of cover and benefits is available on request.

What excess levels are available? Hide

To help you tailor your business health insurance to your requirements, a choice of excess options is offered from £100 to £500 and apply per employee, per benefit year.

For example, if an employee’s selected excess is £100 and they use their cover twice in one benefit year, they will pay £100 excess. If the treatment runs into the following benefit year, a further £100 excess will be applied.

What type of underwriting is used? Hide

Underwriting for health insurance is the process by which an insurer decides on what terms it will accept a person for cover, based on the information they supply.

For schemes with two to 20 members there are three underwriting options available:

Full medical underwriting
Underwriting takes place at the point of joining and we will exclude any pre-existing conditions prior to joining Bupa.

Moratorium
Bupa will not underwrite at the point of joining so your employees will not be required to complete a medical questionnaire before joining. This is based on the understanding that they will not be covered for any medical conditions that existed in the five years prior to joining.

However, if after two years continuous Bupa cover the employee has experienced no symptoms and received no treatment, medication, tests or advice from their GP or a specialist for their condition, we may include cover.

Moratorium is not available on the Six Week scheme.

No further underwriting (NFU)
If you choose to switch your business health insurance to Bupa, we may offer ‘no further underwriting’ terms. This means we will apply the special conditions or exclusions used by your previous provider.

For groups with 20 registrations or more they can choose from one of the above or medical history disregarded (MHD) which means we will provide cover without asking for medical history.

How easy is it to add/remove employees? Hide

You can add or remove employees from your business health insurance plan with one phone call. As your premium is worked out pro rata, per employee, a refund will be arranged if appropriate.

How long am I tied into my business health insurance for? Hide

You will be on an annual contract but you can choose to leave us at any point without a penalty.

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Questions for members of company health insurance

Does Bupa provide cover for pre-existing conditions? Hide

If you have never had health insurance, we’ll need to base our decision on your past four years’ medical history. If you are experiencing symptoms you know could cause problems in the future, we may need to exclude them as a pre-existing condition. If you’re transferring from existing cover to Bupa, we’ll consider continuing your existing exclusions or treatment based on your claims history with your current insurer, and the rules and benefits of your chosen Bupa business health insurance plan.

Is cover for accidents and emergencies included? Hide

While we don’t provide cover for accidents and emergencies we will provide cover towards follow-up treatment as long as it’s not for a pre-existing condition and has been referred by a specialist consultant or GP.

Will I receive cash benefit if I need to stay in an NHS hospital? Hide

We pay £50 NHS cash benefit for each night you receive in-patient treatment provided free under the NHS. We only pay NHS cash benefit if the in-patient treatment would otherwise have been covered privately under your business health insurance benefits. A membership guide detailing full terms and conditions is available on request.

Can I cover my family, too? Hide

Yes. If your company has chosen family cover you can include your spouse/partner and any dependent children up to the age of 24 who live with you at your address.

If I never claim how else can I benefit from my Bupa membership? Hide

As a Bupa member, you have access to services designed to help keep you and your family in the best of health all year round.

These include a free 24-hour HealthLine and an interactive online health assessment. There is also a wealth of information on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of certain conditions including cancer, bone and joint conditions and mental health issues.

Will I be taxed for Bupa business health insurance? Hide

When your employer spends money on providing health insurance, the ‘value’ of this benefit is taxed at the same rate your salary. The ‘value’ is the amount the employer pays per employee for your health insurance. In simple terms, if your employer pays £100 per year for your cover and you pay tax at 20 percent, it will cost you £20 extra tax over the year.

How do I claim? Hide

Your GP will refer you to a consultant or healthcare practitioner but before attending an appointment or undergoing any diagnostic tests, you must call the Bupa helpline on 08457 55 33 22*. A Bupa adviser will check you are covered for treatment and explain both the benefits available to you and explain the claiming process, which is virtually paper-free.

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