Medical Tourism Blog

Just a brief backgrounder first. Sometime back, I contacted BUPA International, a worldwide health insurance company. I asked them whether they allow their members to travel abroad specifically for treatment, to a specific country. Their response ( with a lot of caveats and ifs and buts ) in a nutshell was :

Quote - "If a policy holder who has been with us for some time then develops a medical condition and wishes to go to a particular country to have treatment there that is fine and will generally be covered."

Wanting some verification, I harassed them for details. My question, to be exact : "So does that mean that if one of your existing members, who has been with you for a long time, wants to go for treatment to Bangkok or Delhi, that's fine by you?"

BUPA's answer? "Yes, that is correct if a BUPA International member develops a new medical condition they can choose to receive the treatment in whichever country they see fit, provided that the treatment is eligible and that they have cover for that country. Generally our policies provide either worldwide cover excluding USA or worldwide cover including USA. "

And in case you're wondering, their list of participating hospitals includes Bumrungrad and 19 other hospitals in Thailand, the Apollo hospitals Group and the Escorts Heart Institute in India, in addition to others and a huge list of participating countries. Their full list of participating hospitals and countries can be seen here.

I still think this isn't a good enough answer, but it'll have to do. I'm afraid if I demand any more clarifications, they might get a tad bit upset, to say the least. So if anyone who is an existing member of BUPA International or knows more about their policies, in both senses of the word, wants to inform us in more detail, please post in the comments, or hit me up.

Update: Just to make things clear - We're talking about BUPA International. Secondly, like I said, you need to be a pre-existing member with valid cover for the treatment and country in question. Thirdly, please contact BUPA International or their representatives to find out what's valid, what's not. Lastly, this is an informative blog, and we are dedicated to bring you the latest news and developments and expert opinion regarding medical tourism. We are not in any way affiliated with BUPA, BUPA International or any of their subsidiaries or representatives.