Bupa has made extensive changes to its critical illness (CI) product. The provider will be making a...
Bupa has made extensive changes to its critical illness (CI) product.
The provider will be making a number of key changes including:
- The addition of premium discounts for diabetes and cardio-vascular risk, in addition to the discounts already available for cancer and multiple sclerosis.
- The removal of age restrictions on Alzheimer's, Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson's, dementia, waiver of premium and total and permanent disability.
- The introduction of two partial payment levels for low grade prostate cancer (25% up to £25k) and mastectomy (12.5% to £12.5k).
- The introduction of a list of Bupa-approved hospitals around the world, meaning that if a customer is diagnosed in one of these facilities, they will no longer need to be repatriated back for diagnosis confirmation.
- A modification of the general exclusions list. Only one exclusion now which is 'self-inflicted'.
In addition, Bupa has increased the cover available on its CI products, with personal customers eligible for up to £2m of level cover while business protection clients may be eligible for up to £3m.
Steve Casey, head of product development and marketing at Bupa, said: "The reason why we are doing this is that the ultimate aim is to continue with a market leading product with an affordable price.
"The partial payments incur a cost that we will cover because we're not going to increase the price. We're trying to be innovative with the premium discounts.
"Our overall key message is around meeting the perceived needs of our members and keeping the CI product as simple and easy to understand yet affordable."
