| Bupa paid for my first test With Dr Wilmshurst at Royal shrewbury.
However this gets a little complicated, or it did for me.
My Bupa cover started AFTER my bend as i took it out cos getting bent was the first time i had been in hospital and it scared me so i decided i wanted the option to get referred when and where i wanted. When i rang up they offered to cover me for a PFO as i hadn't had a diagnosis it was just statistically likely i had one, because i'd had a bend. (They won't do this now if you're a diver apparently) Cost me an extra £15/month but i figured it was likely i had one so i went with it, and its definitely paid off. they also said they'd pay for a bubble echo if that was what was neccessary to diagnose me.
Then they said they wouldn't pay for a PFO test as it was a screening test, so i disputed this as they'd previously said they would pay for it and on checking the phone records they agreed as they had already said they would, even though they were wrong to have said it under my policy. Trouble was as my bend was pre membership i'd have struggled to argue that the tests weren't screening tests, as arguing that the bend was a symptom would have meant they probably would have decided to not cover me at all!
If your bend was post membership i'd argue that a bend is potentially a symptom for a PFO, and thus its not a screening test but a diagnostic one...  |