I moved here from the US rather suddenly on 457 and my friend who'd previously done the same move had Bupa, so that's why I signed up with them for my overseas visitor coverage
Bupa won't tell you, though your overseas coverage (not medicare) works w/ literally any doctors office that takes medicare, and I'd highly recommend attending an office that's not a Bupa-specific medical center.
Bupa will charge you a consultation for any reason. They require a long consultation on your first visit, which is ~$130. In all my subsequent visits the doctors seem to try to draw the time out talking about whatever (not even medical related) in order to collect the higher fee for the longer length of time.
All of the doctors I sat down with were SUPER nice and friendly - however did not seem knowledgeable or professional at all, and weren't respectful of time
If you need to see a doctor for ANY reason - you need to book an appointment and pay a consultation fee. I've had to pay this fee to literally walk into the doctor's office, get him to refill my script and walk back out again. No other reason for the visit.
I also ran out of meds on an overseas trip, and they said they couldn't send me a prescription - but recommended I get travel insurance from someone else and work w/ them to get a consultation in Vietnam w/ a doctor who can diagnose me w/ the same thing. They wouldn't even send me a note to reference w/ the Vietnam doctor nor to the travel insurance company
Perhaps the WORST thing is that they literally treat every claim as a "preexisting condition," which you have to prove otherwise in order for the claim to be approved. I literally fell snowboarding and needed stitches - submitted the claim, and it got rejected. Bupa Reception: "We don't know whether or not it's a prexisting condition unless you get your doctor to fill out this form stating that it's not. They may charge you to fill out this form." Me: "I literally got stitches... how is that prexisting?" Bupa: "Oh, it's a compliance thing... we treat everything as prexisting unless you prove otherwise." Yeah, I'm sure there's a law that requires you to put more restrictions across covering things which are obviously not preexisting conditions...?
I've no knowledge of the other medical options out there and have not yet bothered to switch. But Bupa is opportunistic and dishonest. They make it difficult to file claims in the hopes that you will forget or give up and they won't have to pay. They drag out appointments to charge larger fees. Their professionalism and the knowledge-ability of their doctors is incredibly minimal.
The doctors, receptionist and phone support people I've talked to were all very nice. Though Bupa as organization, and in light of the quality of care I've received - I wouldn't recommend Bupa to my worst enemy read more