Bupa UK is expanding coverage on its group dental insurance products including faster oral cancer treatment, an additional higher level of benefit, and hospital dental treatment.
The upgrades will be available to new and renewing customers from 1 September and include access to oral cancer care from the start of the policy with no wait period, cover for hospital dental treatment, and unlimited oral cancer treatment when using a fee-assured consultant in a partnership facility.
The provider said the changes were in response to customer feedback and increasing demand. However, it did not answer whether the changes would mean increases to premiums.
Bupa added that it saw record growth in dental insurance customer numbers during 2021 as businesses looked to strengthen their health and wellbeing initiatives.
The full list of product enhancements includes:
- Covering all clinically necessary restorative dental treatment up to benefit limits.
- Covering hospital dental treatment up to benefit limits.
- Removing wait period for oral cancer cover on business products so customers can access treatment as soon as they need it.
- Separate fillings and root canal benefit on Dental Plan so employees can now claim more cash-back towards a filling and a root canal.
- New top level of cover for Dental Choice with 32 increases to benefit limits. This further improves value for customers as it enables them to claim even more cash-back towards their treatment.
- Simplified membership guides making it easier for customers to understand their policy.
According to the Bupa Wellbeing Index, a quarterly report conducted among 8,000 UK adults, one in four (25%) adults believed their dental health declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbated by lockdowns and missed appointments.
Consequently, almost one in five (18%) adults said dental health was their biggest wellbeing worry.
Richard Norris, director of specialist products at Bupa UK Insurance, said: “Oral health is an essential part of everyone’s wellbeing.
“Given what we know about the link between gum disease and the increased risk of many life-limiting and life-threatening health problems, the enhancements we’re making to our dental insurance products will help employees stay on top of their oral health and crucially, prevent bigger problems from emerging further down the line.”