Bupa has announced it will give customers the choice to create their own extras cover with the goal of enabling people to better meet their individual health needs and only pay for what they need.
The company said 'FLEXtras' will allow customers to build their own extras product with customised services, annual limits and benefits.
The managing director Bupa Health Insurance, Emily Amos, said FLEXtras was developed in response to customers asking for greater control over their Extras cover.
“Customer research showed that one in two customers wanted to choose what was included in their extras cover,” said Ms Amos.
“We wanted to create an affordable Extras product that truly met the changing health and wellbeing needs of Australians. It allows customers to design and build their own cover so they’re paying for the services they need, not the things they don’t.”
Bupa said customers can build their own FLEXtras product by selecting either four or six extras services, standard or higher limits based on how much they consume and 50 per cent back or 60 per cent in benefits back at their provider of choice.
It said customers will be able to swap out services in their FLEXtras product at any time, without re-serving two month waiting periods, provided they have not yet claimed on that particular service in the given calendar year.
Ms Amos said FLEXtras is Australia’s first truly flexible approach to this cover because customers can build the product from the ground up.
“We wanted to move away from ‘bundles’ as they often come with fixed groupings of services that don’t always match customer needs. This means you’re paying for things you don’t use, for example you may have chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy included in your ‘bundle’ but only use physiotherapy.”
Ms Amos added Bupa expected the take up of FLEXtras to grow over time as people continued to prioritise their and their family’s health and wellbeing needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.