On April Fool’s Day, private health cover premiums rose again – this time 5-6%.
BUPA shafted me with my annual price gouge – this time 7.2% – with a healthy dose of ‘put up and shut up’:
There are 4 industries that should not have shareholders:
When these businesses have shareholders – customers are treated like human wallets to be squeezed and abused in order to maximize profits. With no ceiling on how much profit is enough, employees keep smashing citizens so they can meet KPIs and keep their jobs.
HMOs in the US give bonuses to assessors who find loopholes to not pay-out medical costs to customers. The same is happening here.
I have Special Extras cover that includes podiatry. I purchased a pair of shoes from my podiatrist to help me walk due to tumours in my feet. The BUPA assessor sent me a smarmy standard rejection letter with a bit of personalization to break the news:
According to BUPA, spending more money is the key to successful claiming but they still reserve the right to refuse. Gotta think of the shareholders, right?
Surgery for the tumours is simple in a day clinic with a specialist who removes the damaged nerves. BUPA refuses to cover this despite my long history of paying monthly premiums for 20+ years since the previous century when they were called MBF.
BUPA said they would cover a hospital stay to fix my feet – but not my choice of doctor. I have to see one of their pre-approved doctors – none of whom are recommended by the sports podiatrist treating my condition. In early March I rang to make an appointment with the BUPA doctor – the earliest I could get in is May 3.
The waiting time to see a BUPA specialist is longer than Medicare and I have no idea yet how long I will have to wait for surgery in a hospital with a general anesthetic that is not necessary when a day clinic can do the same job.
I hope BUPA is reading this because I will be documenting every step of being a good customer to them and their unethical and non-philanthropic practices. I’ll get this out to media outlets as a case study for why health cover providers should not be permitted to operate as companies with shareholders.
Imagine if the police and fire departments were privatized? You call for help after paying taxes ie ‘premiums’ for years and they refuse because you’re not one of their ‘customers’ in their ‘region’ and they have assessors who are paid to find a reason why the police or firefighters can’t come to your aid.
It’s time for a balance of socialism and capitalism so true democracy can exist. All of one or the other is disastrous for humanity and kills one of the most beautiful qualities of the human species – compassion – and not just for the people we know and love but for all people.
If I see my ‘caring’ health fund promoting ‘my choice of doctor’ – it will be fun to sue them in a class action for false and misleading advertising.
With the surgery they will cover for me involving a hospital stay, a wheelchair and then crutches – I’ll have the time and the inclination to follow through.