On this page:
- Who is Bupa?
- Premium increase for 2023
- How to save on your Bupa health insurance premium
- Does Bupa get many complaints from members?
- How good is Bupa's gap cover?
- How many hospital agreements does Bupa have in each state?
- Does Bupa offer ambulance cover?
- Does Bupa offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Does Bupa let you claim online or in-app?
Who is Bupa?
Founded in 1947, Bupa Australia is part of the international Bupa Group that provides health and care services in more than 190 countries. It has 3.5 million members and is Australia's second-largest private health fund behind Medibank. While Bupa is a for-profit company, its parent company is nonprofit.
Phone: 134 135
Website: bupa.com.au
Premium increase for 2023
Bupa will increase its health insurance premiums on 1 October 2023 by an average of 3.39%.
This compares with an average premium increase of 2.9% and is the second-highest increase of the five major health funds. Three other large funds have also delayed their premium increases till later this year:
- HCF – 3.33% increase from 1 September 2023
- NIB – 2.72% increase from 1 October 2023
- Medibank – 2.96% from 1 June 2023
- HBF from 4.49% on 1 April.
How to save on your Bupa health insurance premium
If you want to check whether you're getting the best deal, you can review your health insurance at any time (in fact, it's good practice to do it at least once a year). To help you wade through the seemingly infinite options, our insurance experts developed a tool that lets you compare health insurance based on your needs so you can find cover that works for you, and potentially save yourself hundreds.
If you decide your current policy is good value for money and suits your needs, prepay your premium by 30 September. This is an excellent way to save money as it 'locks in' your current premium and means you'll avoid the 1 October price increase for up to 12 months.
Bupa discounts and promo offers
While Bupa doesn't offer any discounts for prepaying your premium or paying your premium by direct debit, there are youth discounts available on all hospital policies and these are transferable (meaning you can transfer a discount from another fund to one of these policies).
Does Bupa get many complaints from members?
Bupa has a Medium complaints rating.
When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don't get automatically penalised for having more complaints. The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating – it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.
How good is Bupa's gap cover?
A medical gap is the difference between Medicare's recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.
Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called 'no gap agreements', or part of that gap, which are called 'known gap agreements' (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).
Our graphic below displays the CHOICE gap rating, which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.
Rating scale
- Well above average
- Above average
- Average
- Below average
- Well below average
How many hospital agreements does Bupa have in each state?
The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you're treated.
The table below shows how many hospital agreements Bupa has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don't have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they're agreement hospitals.
Does Bupa offer ambulance cover?
All Bupa hospital, extras and combined policies cover emergency ambulance in all states.
For Gold and selected Silver policies cover is unlimited, but for all other policies cover is capped at:
- one transport per single policy a year
- two transports per family and couple policy a year.
Does Bupa offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Adult children are covered on family policies for free until they turn 21.
- Full-time students are covered on family policies for free until they turn 32.
- Adult children younger than 32 can be covered on extended family policies for an extra cost.
Does Bupa let you claim online or in-app?
Benefits for most extras services can be claimed online or through an app (Android and iOS).
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
