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Q: Is buying Chinese health insurance a waste of money?
Expat health insurance packages are INSANE whereas Chinese ones only cost around 2000 a year. But is it even useful if you end up getting cancer or getting disfigured in a horrible traffic accident?
11 years 8 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
I would definitely say yes! Especially if you get married...having insurance that covers medical expenses related to having a baby (delivering one, not making one). I was quoted 9K RMB for the delivery of my twins and left the hospital 30K lighter.
China Life has a basic package for 911 RMB/annum and they allow you to use a whole swathe of hospitals compared to some other plans that I've seen.
I've had coworkers who've been hospitalized and couldn't get a jiao back from company plans (and some company-provided insurance list the company itself as the beneficiary in case of death).
All-in-all, a worthwhile investment if you choose your plan carefully.
on top of what Sinobear says. Some of these plans also work as a saving. My health insurance with Ping An, if paid for 20 years, will also be a saving. I can ask for the entire sum back, which of course would cancel the insurance.
When we went shopping for insurance, a big issue was that the insurance sales people cannot really tell you how much you should be insured for. Their calculations is done based on your income, whereas I was more looking for answers such as, how much would hospitalization with a broken leg cost. I assume the hospital would charge the same to patch you back together no matter if you are in a low income or high income group
If my wife or me gets a serious condition like cancer, I think it would not matter with health insurance in China, we would chose a hospital back home.
Anyone got more information about where to find these chinese plans? Mine that I had from home has just expired and I can't renew from anywhere but home, bigger international companies all seem to want about 200US a month. I'm looking around, any suggestions would be welcome, in Shenzhen if relevant, also legally employed, if relevant.
Scandinavian:
the local insurance companies I know are China Life and Ping An, when I checked prices are similar. the older you are the higher the cost
Hulk:
If you're legally employed, your employer is legally required to provide health insurance... what gives?
melindahess:
I am an insurance agent, but I am located in Shanghai city, if you have some problems, you can also consult me..
Flemingo:
Hulk. Nothing gives. I am legally employed, and do have insurance through that, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to buy something with a bit more cover. The average insurance provided in my workplace still requires the insured to foot up 50% of the bill, but I'm foreign so I do have slightly better cover, but none the less, it only covers real emergencies, and accidents, in China, if I get properly sick but not emergency sick, I could still end up paying a truck load without any way of getting it back or recovering my lost pay, and without the option to seek medical care in Hong Kong. I can afford to take my time, and I am looking around.
You can buy insurances from the companies' sites on net directly,it's usually much cheaper,you can also buy some special insurance(such as accident insurance) on taobao.com.Their sites are as follows,but they are all in Chinese.Have a Chinese friend help you if needed.
http://www.pingan.com/?WT.mc_id=c03-BDPP-101&WT.srch=1
http://baoxian.taobao.com/?spm=1.1000386.221827.10.JGXIjE
I am an insurance agent, if you have some questions you can ask me:)
I can help me to find a cheapest one which suit you well
not like the good old USA where it costs 1500 RMB a month with 30,000 RMB deductible.Need to move to China. Franck3
I do not think its a good idea. "First pay by yourself in the hospital and than we will give you back some part of it" . i know, I grew up in different place, where i Pay monthly part of my salary to insurance company, and when i go to hospital, I no need to regitser, pay fee, go to visit doctor, payu fee, pay charge for medicine in full amount and so on.
Scandinavian:
It is actually not entirely true. My wife was in the hospital. At check in we paid for one day of hospitalization and gave them insurance information. The following days were not paid until the insurance company paid. This was in a public hospital.
That being said. I have heard the story you talk about. Of course the insurance company would rather keep their money. When we "shopped" insurance, the list of what is covered differ from company to company, and so-called "serious disease" only covers about 25 different things. If you go to the hospital for any other reason you're on your own, even if it means you will die and the insurance company will have to pay out your life insurance.
