Health Insurance?

[Cat Jones]

Hiya - I'm moving to Beijing in the middle of August to start at BLCU in early September. I was told that I should buy health insurance to cover me while I'm out there.

I've had some quotes from Pacific Prime but the costs are HUGE!! Any ideas of where you can get reasonably priced health insurance? I'm based in the UK.

I know there is a payment to cover health insurance when I register with BLCU but I guess this might not be sufficient.

Any advice guys? Thanks in advance.

Cat

[prateeksha]

Err, is that important? Like, indispensable? I have studied up to Bachelors and never had to get any medical insurance in India. Or may be it's just India. Insurance is still more a way to save money on tax, than having much functional value to it.

[PanShiBo]

I wouldn't bother.

[The BLCU Blog]

I think you'll be fine as the BLCU insurance will cover you for emergencies. I never had any other insurance myself and I was there for a year. You can always use the hospital on campus if you need prescriptions or basic check-ups. I wouldn't be telling you this unless I thought it was true.

[amandagmu]

You should find or ask someone at a study abroad / education abroad office nearby. The people who work there get these questions all the time and can advise. Alternatively, you should ask anyone else you know in the UK who has studied abroad for extended time about their situation (or ask the office for some references). I'm in the U.S. and I bought something called "Seven corners" which is a U.S.-based international health insurance company, and it sounds like what BLCU wants you to buy. It wasn't terribly expensive - a few hundred dollars covered me for 365 days, so fewer days is probably cheaper. (Mind you, the insurance isn't fabulous, but it will cover emergencies and a western doctor's office visits that are important, like when I went to get anti-biotics for an infection.)

[Liebkuchen]

I was looking at this online yesterday and it was going to be around £400 through STA travel in the UK.

I guess the issue is if something really bad happened, like you died- could your family afford to get the body back home? My family have absolutely no extra money so I'm erring on going for it...admittedly, if that did happen, I wouldn't know anything about it- but I fear the wrath of my mother, even from beyond the grave...

[Cat Jones]

Hey thanks all. I wasn't sure what the BLCU insurance would cover, and what facilities were available on campus. If you access the facilities at BLCU do you have to pay? I guess there's a charge for seeing a doctor and prescriptions right?

[amandagmu]

I only had one experience with the BLCU clinic in 2005, so I hope others could chime in with more helpful information. I had a serious sinus infection (lots of people get them if they aren't used to the pollution). I went after 2 weeks of suffering through classes (losing my voice, cough, sinus pain) and they didn't (couldn't?) prescribe me a strong anti-biotic. I basically got the lighter medicine to take care of the symptoms... it didn't go away, but that time I was only in Beijing ~8 weeks, and since I got the infection only around the 4th week, I seem to remember I only had to wait another week or two to go see the doctor at home. When I did, she told me I had a prolonged infection (bad) that needed something more serious than over-the-counter medicine. She sent me home with a "z-pack" (7 days of strong anti-biotics) and by day 3 I was feeling nearly 100%.

Almost the exact same situation happened to me in November-December this past year, and it was also only cleared up with anti-biotics. This time I had carried with me a "z-pack" in my luggage. Entering the 4th week of suffering I finally took the medicine (I don't like taking anti-biotics out of the fear I might become resistant) and I'm so glad I did because I started feeling better within a few days. The doctor I asked here about it (Australian expat doctor) simply said that the infections and pollutions in China are either stronger and/or just different, so this happens to a lot of people when they first get here. So I guess you could say that in my case, since I knew I would probably need to see a good doctor at some points for sinus infection issues, I signed up for the international health insurance without thinking too much about it.

If other people have BLCU health center experiences please do share.

[imron]

I wouldn't bother.

I'm sure that's what this guy thought too.

I have previously purchased travel insurance with World Care and found them to be reasonable - they have a budget plan that basically just covers medical and hospital expenses as well as personal liability, but they might possibly be Australia specific (although assistance is provided by mondial, who do have a UK site, so you may find similar pricing).

[The BLCU Blog]

If you access the facilities at BLCU do you have to pay? I guess there's a charge for seeing a doctor and prescriptions right?

Yes, but it's very cheap. Even with check-up and prescriptions you probably won't need to pay more than 50-100 RMB for most problems.

[Cat Jones]

Thanks all! Love this forum - you are all so helpful! B)

[Hélène]

Hi,

In any case, I would carry a list of Hospitals in the city i'm in... Here's is one from the International Medical Insurance listing those in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

http://www.international-medical-insurance.com/country/china/hospitals.php

Beijing Hospital List

American Sino Ob/Gyn Services - Beijing

Monday to Sunday 9 am to 5 pm

24 hour Emergency Service

5th Floor, 218 Xiaoguang Beili Anwai, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029

Tel: 010 6496 5151 Fax: 010 6496 5151

Bayley and Jackson Medical Centre (Outpatient)

Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm , Saturday and Sunday 8 am to 5 pm

24 hour Emergency Service

No. 7 Ritan Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020

Tel: 010 8562 9998 Fax: 010 8561 4866

Beijing International (SOS) Clinic

Monday to Saturday 9 am 6 pm , Only Emergency on Sunday

No.1 San Li Tun Wu Jie, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100027

Tel: 010 6462 9112 Fax: 010 6462 9111

Beijing United Family Hospital

Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm

24 hour Emergency Service

#2 Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100016

Tel: 010 6433 3960 Fax: 010 6433 3963

Pinnacle Plaza , Unit #818 Tian Zhu Real Estate Development Zone Shunyi District Beijing 101312

China

Tel: 010 8046 5432 Fax: 010 8046 4383

Beijing Vista Clinic

Monday to Sunday 8 am to 9 pm (Gynecology: Monday to Saturday; Dental and Pediatrics: Monday

to Sunday)

24 hour Emergency Service

Underground Level 1, Kerry Center Shopping Mall, No. 1 Guanghua Road , Chaoyang District,

Beijing 100020

Tel: 010 8529 6618 Fax: 010 8529 6615

International Medical Centre Beijing

Monday to Sunday 8:30 am to 5:30 pm

Kempinski Hotel, Beijing Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Road , Beijing 100016

Tel: 010 6465 1561

Sk Hospital

Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm

11 Shui Dui Zi Beili, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100026

Tel: 010 8596 3388 Fax: 010 8596 1675

Beijing Amcare Women's & Children's Hospital

Monday to Saturday 9 am to 5:30 pm

No.9 Fangyuan West Rd , Chanyang District, Beijing 100016, China

Tel: 010 6434 2388 Fax: 010 6434 2410

[hht]

As someone with recent experience. I would recommend STA £400 deal.

I got an appendicitis, i know not that serious. But when the insurance rang the chinese hospitals to get info it seemed I had 48 hours max before it would burst. So the insurance chartered a private plane from beijing to pick me up at changsha. An ambulance took me from yueyang to changsha airport to get the plane. Due to bad weather we had to wait at changsha overnight (in a lush hotel) with the western doctor and chinese nurse provided to escort me on my way to hong kong. Then next morning we got the plane, no check in or security really just jumped the queues. Touched down in hong kong and an ambulance was waiting outside the private jet, took me to a private hospital and within 3 hours of being in hong kong i was under the knife getting an appendectomy. Usually the hospital said they would send a patient like me home the next day or so but i stayed about 8 or 9 nights until i was ready to travel back to uk. Flight back was business class all the way back to the uk.

All that for £400 insurance...I think ill be buying it again when I go to china this sept.

[knickherboots]

Something other than the BLCU cover would be a good idea if you can afford it. Shopping for health insurance can be a pain, but with a bit of persistence you should be able to find something suitable and not too expensive, especially if you're young and don't need cover for a pre-existing condition. I'd be more worried about something catastrophic, such as being hit by a car, than something persistent and annoying that the local clinic doesn't treat properly. But amandagmu's experience shows how having access to a Western clinic can make life much more enjoyable. I've used World Nomads cover, but haven't had to use it. BUPA has a good reputation, so I would check with them. AXA-Minmetals Assurance, a Sino-French joint venture, has been getting more popular with expats in China. I vaguely recall them having a special program for foreign students. Aetna, which administers their program out of Hong Kong (at least for Beijing policyholders), is also reputable.