Bupa Global international health insurance review

About Bupa Global

Bupa Global is an international health insurance provider based in London, UK and founded in 1982 by its parent company, Bupa. It offers health, dental, and travel insurance. Bupa serves 17.5 million health insurance customers and employs around 83,000 people.

Eligibility

Age

You must be between 18 and 80 to purchase Bupa Global international health insurance plans.

Pre-existing conditions

You can purchase a Bupa Global plan if you have a pre-existing condition, but whether your pre-existing condition is covered will be determined as you go through the application and underwriting process.

Bupa Global international health insurance plan options

Bupa Global offers one simple core plan with multiple add-ons that you can include with your core plan.

Core plan

Bupa Global’s core plan covers you for essential hospital treatment, whether you are admitted in an emergency or your visit is pre-planned. The plan covers the following:

• Consultation fees
• Surgery
• Eligible cancer treatment
• Advanced medical imaging like CT and MRI scans
• Emergency dental treatment
• Hospital stays

Core plan annual benefit limit

The annual overall benefit limit is $2,890,000 / €2,125,000 / £1,700,000.

Additional coverage options

You can include additional coverage to your core plan at an additional cost. Below is a breakdown of the optional add-ons.

Note: while we aim to keep our reviews updated, we cannot guarantee that the benefit information here is the latest. Refer to Bupa Global’s site for the latest information.

Add-on	For	Coverage
USA cover	U.S. coverage for those that visit the U.S. regularly while living outside of the U.S.	Access to medical treatment, network of quality hospitals and other treatment providers, and direct settlement of all covered expenses
Worldwide Evacuation	Evacuations for treatment that isn't available locally	Evacuation to the nearest suitable hospital or repatriation to home country
Worldwide Medical Plus	Consultations and treatment with doctors or specialists that don't require hospital stays	Maternity, young child care, physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractor treatment, consultations and treatment with therapists and complementary therapists, psychiatrists' and psychologists' fees, speech therapy, pathology, x-rays and diagnostic tests, and accident-related dental treatment. Annual overall limit of $42,500 / €31,250 / £25,000 and additional limits for benefits apply.
Worldwide Medicines & equipment	Medicine and equipment needed as part of your treatment or rehabilitation, including long-term prescriptions	Prescription medicines and dressings, hire of medical equipment, such as oxygen supplies and wheelchairs, long-term prescriptions for medicines needed to manage a chronic condition like asthma. Limits apply for certain benefits.
Worldwide Wellbeing	Staying healthy and managing your health and wellbeing with preventive treatments, testing, and screenings	Screening for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancers, bone density scans, consultations with a dietitian, vaccinations and immunizations, dental check-ups, treatment and hygienist services, orthodontics, eye exams and prescription glasses and contact lenses. Annual overall limit of $8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 and additional limits for benefits apply.

Area of coverage

Bupa Global’s core plan provides coverage worldwide excluding the U.S. You can add coverage for the U.S. to your core plan for an additional cost. (If you get U.S. coverage, you’ll have access to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s networks.)

COVID-19 coverage

Although Bupa Global has epidemics and pandemics listed among its coverage exclusions, Bupa Global will cover COVID-19. There is no need to get pre-authorization for COVID-19 diagnosis or treatment. Policy terms, including plan limits and geographical areas of cover still apply.

Exclusions

Health insurance plans generally have treatments, expenses, and procedures that aren’t covered. Below are some of the conditions and situations that Bupa Global does not cover. You can get the full list in Bupa Global’s Membership Guide.

• Experimental treatment or drug therapy
• Cosmetic treatments (e.g. plastic surgery)
• Obesity treatments
• Drug addiction or alcoholism treatment
• Self-inflicted injuries
• Infertility treatment

Bupa Global international health insurance costs

Deductible options

A deductible is the amount you must pay out of pocket before the insurance company will pay out for claims covered by your plan. Bupa Global offers 6 deductible options. The higher the deductible amount, the lower your premiums. The deductible options include:

Dollars ($)	Euros (€)	Pound (£)
$0 $425 $850 $1,700 $3,400 $8,500	€0 €300 €625 €1,250 €2,500 €6,250	£0 £250 £500 £1,000 £2,000 £5,000

Monthly premium costs

Below are some estimated costs for Bupa Global’s core plan and the core plan with different add-ons.

We pulled quotes for 4 ages (18, 25, 35, and 65) and for a U.S. citizen who’ll be living in Portugal with no dependents. We also ran quotes for the extremes of deductible, meaning we looked at the case of no out of pocket contributions (i.e $0 deductible) and the case of maximum out of pocket contributions (i.e. $8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 deductible). This way you can see the range of premium costs.

Note: These quotes are just for informational purposes and while we aim to keep our reviews updated, we cannot guarantee these rates are the latest. For accurate rates, get a quote directly from Bupa Global. Also, in some countries, there might also be a local country tax.

Age 18 (U.S. citizen living in Portugal)
Plan	No deductible	$8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 deductible
Core	$183 €163 £136	$34 €30 £25
Core + USA cover add-on	$428 €380 £317	$279 €248 £207
Core + Worldwide Wellbeing add-on	$274 €244 £203	$125 €111 £93
Core + USA cover + Worldwide Wellbeing add-ons	$641 €570 £475	$492 €438 £365

Age 25 (U.S. citizen living in Portugal)
Plan	No deductible	$8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 deductible
Core	$262 €233 £195	$49 €44 £36
Core + USA cover add-on	$614 €546 £455	$401 €356 £297
Core + Worldwide Wellbeing add-on	$362 €322 £269	$149 €132 £111
Core + USA cover + Worldwide Wellbeing add-ons	$848 €754 £629	$635 €564 £470

Age 35 (U.S. citizen living in Portugal)
Plan	No deductible	$8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 deductible
Core	$338 €301 £251	$65 €58 £48
Core + USA cover add-on	$792 €704 £587	$518 €461 £384
Core + Worldwide Wellbeing add-on	$474 £351 €422	$201 £149 €178
Core + USA cover + Worldwide Wellbeing add-ons	$1,110 €987 £822	$836 €743 £620

Age 65 (U.S. citizen living in Portugal)
Plan	No deductible	$8,500 / €6,250 / £5,000 deductible
Core	$1,054 €937 £781	$403 €358 £298
Core + USA cover add-on	$2,469 €2,194 £1,829	$1,817 €1,615 £1,346
Core + Worldwide Wellbeing add-on	$1,295 €1,151 £959	$643 €572 £476
Core + USA cover + Worldwide Wellbeing add-ons	$3,031 €2,695 £2,246	$2,380 €2,115 £1,763

Getting treatment and the claims process

One of the most frustrating aspects of health insurance is the claims and billing process. While living abroad, the health care system can be even more unfamiliar. Thus, using a provider that offers seamless and simple processes can really make a difference in how much time, and potentially money, you save.

Getting treatment

Prior to receiving treatment, Bupa Global asks that you reach out to its member support center or log into your online account to check that your treatment is covered, confirm if pre-authorization for the treatment is required, and ensure that the hospital or medical provider can invoice and settle bills directly with Bupa Global. Taking these steps will help you avoid the hassle of having to submit claims.

Making claims

If you have to pay for treatment directly, to get reimbursed for covered costs, you’ll need to submit a claim. You can submit a claim in the following ways:

• Online via the member online account area (MembersWorld)
• By mail

If you submit by mail, you’ll have to complete a claims form and mail it along with the original invoice(s) to Bupa Global. Once your claim has been submitted, you can track the status of your claim online.

Bupa Global can send reimbursements via bank transfer or by writing you a check in over 80 currencies. According to Bupa Global, claims usually take 10 days to process and you’ll receive payment a few days later.

Customer support

Navigating medical care abroad, especially if you don’t know the local language, can be challenging. Thus, the type of customer support that an insurance provider offers can help you navigate the local health systems with your international health insurance.

Online support

Bupa Global customers have access to its online service area called MembersWorld. With MembersWorld, customers can get prior approval for treatments, submit and track claims, access plan documents, access Bupa Global’s 24-hour live chat service, and more.

Email

You can also reach Bupa Global customer support by emailing its support team.

Phone support

Bupa Global offers a helpline for its members to call at any time, 24/7, to reach customer support.

Cancellations

You can cancel your plan at any time by calling, emailing, or writing to Bupa Global. If you cancel within 28 days of receiving your first membership certificate for that year, and you have not made any claims, you’ll receive a full refund. If you’ve made a claim within the first 28 days or you’ve canceled after the first 28 days, Bupa Global will provide a prorated refund for the amount of any paid premiums for the period after the cancellation date (i.e the 1st day of the following month).