Saga has appointed Bupa to provide its private medical insurance (PMI) products, replacing its existing partnership with Axa Health.
Under the new partnership Bupa will provide Saga’s four health plans from 1 December.
A Saga spokesperson confirmed to Health & Protection that Bupa will replace Axa Health as provider and the products will be Bupa products sold via Saga.
Announcing the deal, Saga said it had identified Bupa as “the right health and wellbeing partner to support the expansion of the product range and offer new and existing customers more of the exceptional service they expect from Saga.”
The Saga website describing the current proposition said: “It’s been developed especially for people over 50 and is underwritten by Axa PPP Healthcare Limited.”
Saga said its four plans, Support, Secure, Saver Plus and Super, can be tailored to suit individual needs and range from simple cover for treatment in hospital through to comprehensive cover.
It added that Bupa’s digital capabilities will also create opportunities for innovation within Saga’s health and wellbeing products.
In a trading update for its annual general meeting, Saga noted that PMI delivered 16% revenue growth compared with the prior year on a broadly stable policy count.
That was in contrast to a 6% decline for total policy sales across all products for the four months ended 31 May 2023, in what it termed a “challenging year”.
Steve McGuinness, commercial director of Saga Services Limited, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Bupa, a market leader and trusted brand in healthcare.
“This partnership will strengthen our private medical insurance products, while also paving the way for continued innovation in the health and wellbeing services we offer to the millions of over-50s in the UK.“
Alex Perry, CEO of Bupa UK Insurance, said: “We’re delighted that Saga has chosen Bupa to care for its customers’ health.
“Across Bupa there is already a huge amount we do to support the health and wellbeing of people aged 50 and over, and we’re looking forward to working with Saga to keep driving this forward.”
He added that by 2035, half of all UK adults will be over 50, “making the health and wellbeing of this age group more important than ever.”