Buba fined $ 23 million in Australia after “unreasonable behavior”

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British health insurance company, Buba, agreed to pay a fine of 35 million dollars ($ 23 million) in Australia after it admitted “unreasonable behavior” by rejecting the legitimate claims made by patients over the period of five years.

The Australian Competition Committee and consumers, which is the monitoring of consumers in the country, started legal measures against Buba after it said that the United Kingdom had participated in “misleading and misleading” practices between May 2018 and August 2023.

The organizer agreed to the fine with BUPA, but the court will officially determine the punishment, which may change.

The campaign is the latest in a series of procedures AustraliaOrganizers against companies, including CantasHSBC and the country Supermarkets And banks on bad judgment and consumer protection.

The procedure against BUPA relates to the “mixed coverage” allegations in which the patients were examining their eligibility or submitting a request that includes multiple procedures, usually during the hospital’s visit.

Bobby These allegations were rejected entirely if one of the procedures was not covered through the client’s policy, although other parts of the claim were legitimate, according to ACCC.

Jenna Gottalip, Chairman of the Committee, said that the rejected claims prompted thousands of clients to pay their pocket, or to upgrade their policies, or in some cases, the treatment was stopped due to the cost.

“Buba’s behavior affected thousands of members over more than five years, and caused harm to consumers who delayed, canceled, or went without treatment, at least partially, according to health insurance policies,” Cass Gutelb said in a statement.

Nick Stone, President of Buba Asia and the Pacific, said that the insurance company has admitted “unreasonable behavior” and has so far paid $ 14.3 million as compensation to customers to cover 4,100 claims and civil checks. “This never happened,” he said.

BUPA Asia Pacific, which includes Australian, New Zealand and Hong Kong, was the largest unit for insurance company last year, with 37 percent of the group’s revenue of 16.9 billion pounds and a half of 914 million pounds in the latent profits.

The British company entered Australia in 2002 and gained local competitors to become the second largest health insurance company in Australia, behind Medibank Private, with 4.5 million clients.

The Australian government supports private health insurance to relieve pressure on public order, which causes seizure rates.

BUPA also expanded to health care and health care centers in Australia, and has been linked to a possible view of the Healthcope Hospital, which collapsed to the administration last month.

Boba refused to comment on whether she would seek to take over the company.