Recommendations for health insurance + a question

[joshuawbb]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, though I have a question about insurance. Which type of provider/cover do most of you go for - what would you recommend the most? Insurance is just about the last little detail to prepare now before I leave.

I'm rather new to this and I'm not certain whether to get insurance from a UK provider, or from a Chinese provider. From previous opinions people have told me, it seems better to get it from a UK provider?

Costs seem to be much higher than I thought though, even for a UK provider which I would expect more expense anyway. The most "suitable" my parents and I seem to have found is about £400 per year (ouch) and includes accidents, evacuation, general illness, hospitalisation and treatment, and theft (money and belongings). For a student intending to be there for 5 years or more, do you think this is enough? No dental or optical insurance is included - I don't know how necessary dental insurance is though.

Of course, I'm very interested in looking into Chinese providers, though I'm unsure how to properly do that compared to a UK provider.

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Secondly, I have a separate question. On my visa application I have written my earliest date of arrival as July 2nd, however due to sudden changes in airline ticket costs, it seems far better to travel around the 24th June. Do you think it would matter if I have written my intended entry date as July 2nd, but I actually arrive earlier around June 25th?

Sorry to ask small questions; I have sent no less than 3 emails to the Visa Application Centre and embassy now, and a week later there is no response. Whenever I call I just can't find a way of talking to a human.

Thanks again everyone

[roddy]

Depends, really. If you don't have anything you can't afford to lose, and you've got parents at home who could, if the worst came to the worst, bail you out, then you might want to skip on theft / loss. There's a designated provider of health insurance for foreign students in China, and you'd get signed up with them during the registration process, at your cost, unless you show proof of already being insured. That won't cover medical evacuation though, which could be a fairly significant piece of mind issue, for your parents if not for you. Have a look through topics under the 'insurance' tab (see below) and you'll find similar discussions.

You may be able to reduce costs more by selecting the highest excess options. This is what economists recommend, I believe.

You'll be able to get into the country fine, but if you're on an X visa bear in mind you then have 30 days to get your residence permit. There could be issues if you turn up sooner than your school is expecting you - or more likely, you turn up early, but don't go into school for two weeks, meaning they have to rush to process your residence permit. (And incidentally, two questions generally deserve two topics)

[joshuawbb]

Thanks for the very quick reply. I think I'd be more reassured with theft/loss included, so I'll likely go for that, and I'll have a look under the insurance tab as you suggested. I guess evacuation is quite important too, especially given the amount of time I'll be staying.

Ah, sorry for going off-topic with the second question; I figured it was a small question and may be saving space by putting it here.

EDIT: Sorry for not realising this. As for my second question, I am entering China at the date mentioned (either around June 25th, 26th or July 2nd), and I thought before that I didn't need to have my university registration done before that (it's on August 28th) - to be honest, this took me a while to figure out from the fine print. I never realised before I had to provide my full registration with the university; basically, the extent I read was "do it within 30 days, and bring your JW-202, university acceptance letter, health exam and passport".

Well after a while of panicking I called the university and found I don't have to uproot all my plans so far, as June and July 2nd are within the Spring semester, so I can get the registration done there.

Ugh, the red tape is confusing me so much.

Edited April 30, 2009 at 09:40 AM by joshuawbb