Whether WPA pays for a prescription depends on where the medicine is given and what kind of prescription it is. Drugs used during a hospital stay are a listed part of WPA's hospital benefit, and a private prescription can be issued by WPA's remote GP service, but WPA says the prescription charge there is not included. If medicines are the reason you are weighing up cover, this page's form is where you ask for a call-back; an FCA-authorised broker phones you at no cost and can go through how WPA treats your own medicines.
Drugs during a hospital stay: a listed benefit
WPA's brochure for its Complete Health policy (effective from 1 October 2026) describes its hospital cover as cover "should you need to stay in hospital as a day-patient or overnight as an in-patient", and the list of what that includes has "Drugs and Dressings" on it, alongside hospital treatment, specialist fees, diagnostic tests and complex scans (WPA brochure, PDF page 10). So the medicines you are given while you are being treated as a day-patient or in-patient sit inside the hospital benefit, subject to the policy's limits and your excess.
That line is about the stay itself. It does not tell you how a drug you are sent home with is handled, and it does not mention a course started at a clinic appointment. Those are separate questions, and each gets its own section further down this page. The extent of that cover is set by your chosen benefit limits and excess, which differ from member to member, so the same hospital stay can cost two WPA members different amounts. Claims are also subject to a rule that applies across the policy: all claims must be pre-authorised before treatment begins, using the WPA Health app, My WPA or the claims line (brochure, PDF page 30). For medicines, that is a reason to check before a hospital stay what will be given and what the policy will pay for.
Private prescriptions through WPA's remote GP
The brochure lists a remote GP service among the core benefits that come with every policy. A member can book a phone or video consultation online at My WPA or in the WPA Health app, "including the issuing of digital prescriptions to your local pharmacy". The bulleted list for the service includes "Issuing of Private Prescriptions", followed by the words "prescription charge not included" (brochure, PDF page 10).
WPA's Remote GP Services page (read 29 October 2026) explains the payment side. The pharmacy takes payment by card, and "this charge will not be reimbursed by WPA, unless you have a relevant benefit option". The same page says that, should the GP feel it necessary, they can prescribe short-term medication for acute conditions, so the service suits a one-off course rather than a medicine taken for months. Which benefit options, if any, count as relevant is something a broker can raise with WPA when they phone you back, without charge.
Medicines after a specialist appointment or for a long-term condition
The brochure's out-patient description says "Typically, your treatment will start with a specialist consultation", that core cover "contributes £250 per year towards these costs", and that complex scans and out-patient procedures are included (PDF page 10). It lists consultations, complex scans, out-patient procedures and pre-admission tests. A medicine handed over or prescribed at that appointment is not named in that list. The brochure says WPA's full terms and conditions are in its policy guide, A Guide to Your Policy, which WPA supplies on request (PDF page 28), and a broker can ask WPA how that guide treats out-patient medicines for you, at no charge, on the call-back.
Long-term conditions have their own line in the brochure's list of what is not covered: "Any long-term monitoring, management or treatment of incurable, prolonged or lifelong condition(s) (chronic conditions)" (PDF page 28), a list WPA says is not exhaustive. Nor is the remote GP service a route to a repeat prescription: WPA's Remote GP Services page says its GPs "are unable to issue long-term, repeat medication" and that someone who needs one should see their regular GP. For the wider picture across insurers, see whether private health insurance covers medication.
Cancer drugs and the rule for joiners aged 66 and over
Cancer drugs have their own wording in the brochure. Cancer Care is an optional extra, and its list of benefits includes radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Targeted Cancer Therapies and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, the last only where the product is on WPA's approved ATMP list and used within its licence (PDF page 15). The brochure then sets conditions for people who take the extra at 66 or over. One says: "If choosing the Cancer Care Optional Extra, Targeted Cancer Therapy drugs and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) will only be covered if they are not available on the NHS" (PDF page 21).
The exclusions page adds: "At the point of joining, if you are aged 66 and over and have included the Cancer Care Optional Extra, we consider drugs on the NHS Cancer Drugs Fund to be available on the NHS, therefore any drugs on this fund are not available privately. We will not pay for drugs which can be prescribed by your GP" (PDF page 29). The NHS-availability rules are written for people who join at 66 or over with that extra, so they are not WPA's rule for every member. The closing sentence, on drugs a GP can prescribe, sits in the same Cancer Care exclusion, so it is worth asking how it would apply to the cover you are considering. For how the cancer option and the hospital list fit into a first claim, see WPA health insurance reviews.
Medicines you already take and the pre-existing rule
Prescriptions matter in another way when you buy: past medication can affect what the policy will later pay for. Under the moratorium route described in the brochure, a condition from the five years before joining is excluded for at least two years, and "if after two continuous years you have not had any symptoms, treatment, medication (prescribed or over-the-counter) or advice, benefit for pre-existing conditions may be covered" (PDF page 24). The rule lists medication among the things that must be absent for those two years, and the same page adds that "Benefit is not provided for pre-existing long-term medical conditions (and related conditions), which are likely to need regular or periodic treatment, medication or advice", naming diabetes and multiple sclerosis among its examples. A condition you still take tablets for is one to raise with a broker before applying, not after a claim is declined.
Underwriting method changes how this works. WPA also offers Full Medical Underwriting, where you answer health questions when you apply and any personal exclusions are recorded on your Certificate of Insurance, and anyone joining at 66 or over must use that route (PDF pages 21 and 24). Choosing between the two is a decision where a broker's explanation is useful: what a WPA policy costs sets out the other choices that move the price.
Prescription questions people put to WPA
Quick answers for anyone checking a single point before a quote or a claim.
Does WPA cover private prescriptions?
WPA's remote GP service includes issuing private prescriptions, but the brochure states "prescription charge not included". WPA's Remote GP page adds that the pharmacy charge is not reimbursed unless your policy includes a relevant benefit option.
Do I need WPA's permission before a claim that involves drugs?
WPA states that "all claims must be pre-authorised before commencing any treatment", so contact it first through the app, My WPA or the claims line, as the brochure directs (PDF page 30).
Does WPA pay for drugs given in hospital?
"Drugs and Dressings" is a named part of the in-patient and day-patient hospital benefit in the brochure, within the limits and excess of the policy you hold.
Medicines are one of those areas where the answer sits in the small print of a particular policy. If you would like it checked against the cover you are considering, leave your details in the form here; the broker who rings back charges you nothing for explaining WPA's terms.