| Type | Company limited by guarantee |
|---|---|
| Industry | Healthcare |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Ray King, CEO |
| Revenue | £4.24 Billion GBP (2007) |
| Net income | £340 million GBP (2007) |
| Employees | 52,000 (2009) [1] |
| Website | www.bupa.com |
Bupa (pronounced /buːpə/) is a large British healthcare organisation, with bases on three continents and more than ten million customers in over 200 countries. It is a private healthcare company, in direct contrast to the UK's National Health Services, which are tax-funded healthcare systems and do not require private health insurance in order to gain access to hospitals and medical services. Bupa also runs its own hospitals, available only to those in the UK who hold private health insurance policies or who can pay personally.
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Bupa (originally, the British United Provident Association) was established in 1947 when 17 British provident associations joined together to provide healthcare for the general public. The original services offered by Bupa included private medical insurance, and eventually expanded to include privately-run Bupa hospitals, such as Cromwell Hospital. Bupa had an initial registration of 38,000 when founded, but currently has over four million members, and is currently the largest "independent health insurance" (i.e. private health insurance) provider in the UK.
It was founded as a not for profit provident organization intended to provide more services than the National Health Service (NHS) system in Britain. Initially, it was purely a UK health insurance provider, offering policies to individuals, companies and other organisations. This continues to be the largest business within the company and around half of Britain's top companies are presently customers.[2]
Over the years, it has diversified [2] away from its core health insurance business and is now an international health insurance and care company with services that include Travel insurance, health insurance, care homes, health assessments, occupational health services and childcare. The firm is a private company limited by guarantee; it has no shareholders, and any profits (after tax) are reinvested in the business.[3]
The company has its head office in central London, with main UK contact centres in Staines and Salford Quays. There are also offices in Brighton (Bupa International), Bristol (Bupa Health Assurance), Leeds (Bupa Care Services), and Harlow (Bupa Home Healthcare) in the UK, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia (Bupa Australia and Bupa Aged Care Australisia), Madrid (Sanitas), Boston (Health Dialog), Beijing (Bupa China), Hong Kong (Bupa Hong Kong), Jedda (Bupa Arabia), Bangkok (Bupa Thailand), and Miami (for Bupa Latin America).
The firm also owns several healthcare companies overseas including Spain's largest healthcare company, Sanitas, and acquired IHI Danmark and Amedex (Miami, US) in September 2005. In November 2006, it acquired Clinovia, the UK's home healthcare specialist, in a move that gave BUPA new opportunities in the expanding out of hospital care market. In December 2007, it purchased DCA Agedcare Group in Australia and New Zealand, making it a leading player in these markets. Also in December 2007, it announced the purchase of Health Dialog,[4] a provider of chronic condition management and "shared decision making" services.
During 2010, the firm acquired the London-based Cromwell Hospital flagship hospital to provide healthcare to its members and other private patients including medical tourists from outside the UK - however, BUPA Cromwell Hospital is currently not independently accredited by any international accreditation scheme. Approval was given for the merger between Bupa's Australian arm (which, prior to the merger, comprised HBA and Mutual Community) and insurance group MBF.[5] The merger created Australia's second largest private health insurance group. On 1 December 2008, Clinovia's name was changed to Bupa Home Healthcare.[6]
The firm has entered the Indian health insurance market through a joint venture with the local conglomerate, Max India, called Max Bupa Health Insurance Limited.[7]
The firm has recently announced plans to sell Bupa Health Assurance to Resolution group PLC and will become part of Friends Provident / Friends Life. [8]
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