Bupa Boosts Cancer Cover

LONDON, March 25, 2011 - In an industry first, Bupa, the leading international healthcare group,
has announced plans to improve the quality of its cancer cover by no longer
selling corporate health insurance schemes which feature overall cost or time
limits for cancer treatment.

Cancer treatment costs increased sharply in 2005 and 2006 due to the
introduction of new drugs. In response to the concerns this caused about
rising costs, the health insurance market developed financial benefit caps
and time limits to restrict financial exposure for client businesses.

However, experience has shown that these limits mean that patients who
claim on their policies can be left vulnerable at critical points in their
treatment.

Once employees reach their benefit ceiling they face the possibility of
having to change their treatment mid-stream. The varying cost of cancer drugs
also makes it very difficult for patients to make informed choices about
their treatment path, and its likely cost, at the point of diagnosis.

Dr Natalie-Jane Macdonald, managing director, Bupa Health and Wellbeing
explained: "We work closely with our clients to help them to provide their
employees with the best quality healthcare at a sustainable affordable cost,
and this remains a priority for us. We have developed better, fairer ways of
controlling healthcare costs without compromising the experience and outcomes
of patients at a difficult time in their lives."

In 2010 Bupa spent GBP18m on drugs that are not widely available
elsewhere and it routinely funds cancer treatments that are approved by the
European Medicines Agency. Bupa also makes prompt decisions to pay for
experimental drugs when clinically appropriate.

Notes to editors

Bupa (www.bupa.co.uk/) launched Corporate Select in December 2009
with an option to apply an overall annual maximum benefit. Based on this
experience, Bupa has recognised that these limits offer a poor customer
experience.

Faced with the reality of what they mean in practice, businesses that
signed up to them often choose not to apply them. Bupa currently has a very
small number of clients who operate these limits on their corporate policies
and it will work with them to find options to manage their healthcare costs.

About Bupa Group:

A leading international healthcare group, Bupa offers personal and
corporate health insurance (www.bupa.co.uk/business/all-business/business-health-insurance/corporate-health-insurance)
, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and
provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease
management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare.

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With no shareholders, Bupa invests its profits to provide more and better
healthcare. The group is committed to making quality, patient-centred,
affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of health and wellbeing
(www.bupa.co.uk/careers/health-and-wellbeing-uk-jobs), chronic disease
management and ageing.

Employing nearly 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world,
principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as
Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.

    For further information contact:

    Samantha Maslen
    Bupa Corporate Affairs
    Bupa House
    15-19 Bloomsbury Way
    London
    WC1A2BA
    +44(0)20-7656-2638
    www.bupa.co.uk

For further information contact: Samantha Maslen, Bupa Corporate Affairs, Bupa House, 15-19 Bloomsbury Way, London, WC1A2BA, +44(0)20-7656-2638