Share this on: BUPA facts The company's biggest base is in the UK but has customers in three continents BUPA care homes cater for a number of conditions, including Parkinson's (CNN) -- BUPA is an international health and care company with bases on three continents and more than eight million customers. BUPA began as The British United Provident Association in 1947 to preserve freedom of choice in health care. It believed that with a National Health Service being introduced a year later, there would still be a need for a complimentary service enabling people from all walks of life to afford the benefits of choice in where, when and by whom they were treated.