Health Care Issues - [Sponsor]Health Insurance in China – the Do’s and Do not’s. AXAHCBoss - Mar 17, 2009 - 05:15 PM Post subject: [Sponsor]Health Insurance in China – the Do’s and Do not’s.
Health Insurance in China – the Do’s and Do not’s.
Written by: Steven Conway
I run the international healthcare unit at AXA Minmetals Assurance Co., Ltd. and I’ve observed a number of posters make comments on this forum regarding health insurance in China. I thought it might be interesting to share a little bit of information on the local scene from someone inside the business.
When choosing health insurance in China it is important to consider three principle issues;
- the insurance benefits you need
- the insurance company you choose
- the insurance broker/agent you work with
Level of Insurance Cover
Despite popular misconception, China is not a “cheap” location to receive medical treatment – some of the most expensive hospitals in the world are located here and annually we have medical claims that comfortably exceed US$100,000.00. Our two largest claims in the last three years have been as a result of accident, which is the number one cause for medical treatment amongst expatriates in China. Therefore, just because you feel healthy, unless you have significant financial resources, you are literally taking your life in your hands by living in China uninsured.
The very minimum cover you should obtain would be an inpatient only plan, which covers you in the event of hospitalization. These maybe high cost events, that stretch the budgets of all but the wealthiest patients and can be covered by an insurance company for a relatively small premium.
The second cover you should look for is emergency evacuation cover through which the insurance company should not only cover the cost of any true emergency but also be in a position to arrange it. In most cases this cover will be unnecessary in the large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai but should be considered if travels are likely to take you to the less developed locations in China or the rest of Asia.
Plans that include outpatient treatment, for trips to the doctor, are all well and good but they are substantially more expensive and maybe out of the reach of some budgets.
Your Insurance Provider
You can currently split the insurance companies that offer health insurance in China into three groups - legal domestic, legal international and illegal international;
Legal domestic health insurance plans are typically sold by the large local insurance companies and will generally offer health insurance cover in China only, for relatively low benefits for an inexpensive premium. They will probably not be adequate if you wish to seek treatment at the high-end medical facilities.
Legal international plans such as our own, are local legal plans offered by international companies or local companies working with an international partner, that can offer full worldwide cover (in addition to China), broad benefits and a higher premium although hopefully a premium that is more competitive than those currently charged in the U.S. or Europe.
Illegal international plans are plans illegally sold into China from offshore insurance companies that aren’t registered to trade in China and generally offer full benefits but for a full international price. Although they are often sold by very reputable companies and should work fine, there is no legal recourse in China if you have a dispute (as they aren't here!) and there is always a risk that the government will intervene and stop local medical providers from dealing with them.
Your Insurance Salesman
In the same way that you should take care with your insurance provider you should also be aware of your insurance salesman. Agents and brokers also have to be licensed to sell insurance products in China and although I do not believe it is illegal to purchase a product from an unregistered source it is certainly illegal to sell it. Therefore, it is always prudent to confirm that your broker or agent is legally licensed to sell insurance in China or alternatively you can purchase your product direct from the insurance company.
Therefore, in summary;
DO at least purchase a plan that covers admission into hospital and evacuation
DO ensure that you purchase your plan from a legally registered insurer
DO ensure that you purchase your plan through a legally licensed broker/agent
DON’T leave the decision until something happens
DON’T forget to check your current plan to ensure it covers your requirements
I do welcome feedback and any questions so please feel free to post or alternatively email me on steven.conway@axa-minmetals.com.cnPaullie - Mar 18, 2009 - 05:56 PM Post subject:
I would like to make some additional important comments that you need to look at when buying medical insurance, and I am not an insurance broker so I don't have to favour any particular company at all:
Independent insurance brokers make their revenue on what they sell you, so may put forward one insurance over another to make more money depending on commissions etc. So not always in your interest but in theirs. Read the fine print and make sure you know what you are getting for your money as stated above. Often the low risk items will provide huge amounts of coverage and the high risk items coverage have low thresholds to avoid expensive claims. Healthcare here and in some of the centers of medical excellence is very expensive, sometimes exceeding costs in the US and other international centers.
As far as the evacuation cover goes, it is not just about the coverage, you can be insured for ten million $$ but if you don't have someone to get you out of China when you need it, then you are stuck here, and I certainly do not agree with the comments on Beijing and Shanghai necessarily being acceptable - they are not if you come from a country with superb healthcare (sometimes just acceptably good). So when you choose your insurance make sure that they are affiliated to a medical assistance company for evacuation that has a presence in China or who is able to do an evacuation out of China properly in an acceptable time frame, and that you don't end up staying here because the insurance tells you this is an ''acceptable international standard" only because they don't have the means to get you out, and because they don't want to spend the money; remember they are insurances, so they make money on premiums and not on spending money on their clients, so they will obviously do all they can to keep costs down, with what could sometimes be construed as 'acceptable healthcare' based on personal perceptions.
For the record, I don't make money out of moving or referring patients to any healthcare provider or insurance/assistancec company, I am a salaried employee and have the interest of my clients at heart to ensure they get the best possible care - I can write a book about some very unfavourable outcomes due to poor/inappropriate health insurance cover or the total lack thereof in China as well as other parts of Asia.
AXAHCBoss - Mar 18, 2009 - 06:22 PM Post subject:
Thanks for the feedback Paulie and the comments made.
Your implication however that health insurance companies prejudice the health of their clients to save a dollar is a general statement that can't be applied across the board. There are good and bad insurance companies and practices in every country as there are good and bad examples of medical facilites and assistance companies but I for one know that we would never risk the health of our clients by suggesting sub-par treatment.
We are a for profit company and we therefore have an obligation to ensure that every dollar spent is spent in the most efficient manner to ensure the best possible outcome for the client. We also have to consider our other policy holders and ensure that the premiums we charge each year are within their expectations and not inflated by unnecesssary treatments that provide no benefit other than to inflate the bill.
With reference to medical treatment in China, everyone has anecdotal evidence of medical treatment going wrong in every part of the world but I have factual evidence that in my three years in this business in Shanghai we have only been involved in three cases of alledged medical malpractice and ironically all three cases were at Western orientated facilities.
Far from suggesting Chinese medical facilities are perfect, I am simply stating that they are not as bad as many scaremongers would have you think and evacuation is of course, no walk in the park. For a case to require air evacuation it is by implication extremely serious and will certainly not be improved by any additional delay in arriving at a medical facility and the additional trauma suffered through air travel and the logistics involved.
If good quality and effective treatment is available locally it should always be considered first to maximise the chances of a complete recovery for the patient. Certain conditions such as transplants would automatically qualify for evacuation but other conditions should rely on the opinions of those qualified to make them such as the local attending physician, physicians working with the assistance company and those intending to receive the client in the offshore location. Efforts have to be focused on achieving the best overall outcome for the client.
Cheers.
sdx - Oct 10, 2009 - 01:08 AM Post subject: Looking to buy medical insurance with maturnity coverage
Hello,
I am looking to buy medical insurance with maturnity coverage without waiting period. I have found a few plans that require 12-month waiting period.
I would greatly appreciate if someone can recommend a plan without waiting period.
Thank you in advance for your help.
AXAHCBoss - Oct 10, 2009 - 05:40 PM Post subject:
Hi sdx,
for an individual medical plan almost all insurance companies will require a waiting period for maternity as they wish to avoid clients paying for one years insurance, having a baby and then not renewing their policy - it becomes a very expensive exercise.
We have a 12 month waiting period but our restriction is on paying the bills so provided the pregnancy occurs after the 4th month of the policy and lasts the normal duration we will cover the delivery provided the client has renewed the policy.