Health Insurance Advice in China?

[prolyfik]

Hi,

I'm currently shopping for health insurance coverage for living and working in Beijing, China. I am a US citizen which seems to bump-up the price... Mostly because I'll need coverage that covers medical evacuation and repatriation to the US in the case of an emergency...not a pleasant thought, but something one should plan for nevertheless!

Has anyone had experience with coverage by:

1) William Russell

2) IHI (International Health Insurance)

3) Integra Global

4) SRI's Reside Prime

Any recommendations? Any horror stories? I'm sure there are others out there facing the same difficulty choosing coverage as I am!

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Happy travels!

[roddy]

I've been with William Russell for a couple of years now, but have never had to use them so it's hard to comment on how good they actually are. The only real contact I've had with them is when my card expires annually and they hunt me down and force me to tell them the new number. I'd be open to changing if anyone has any cheaper recommendations.

Roddy

[phbriggs]

See if the insurance company has a 24 hour medical contact number.

We used a local agency (WorldCare in Brisbane Australia) and they has a 24 hour contact number and guaranteed 24 hour support in rellation to any medical issue of any size. Fortunately we did not need to use the number. Worldcare parent is Mondial Assistance

If you are after cheap coverage, there is also World Nomads.

[prolyfik]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to keep doing some research and will try and post some more information if I can make sense of anything...

[prolyfik]

Well, just wanted to follow-up over a year later. I ended up going with William Russell for a year. For the most part, things went well. I had a couple minor doctor visits for a sore throat, etc. and after sending in the claim forms, William Russell responded and reimbursed directly to my bank account. I paid in RMB and they reimbursed in USD so I'm not sure exactly how the foreign exchange conversion worked - it was only a couple hundred dollars.

However, my plan just expired. They sent me a letter with a new premium that bumped the price up about USD$100 and I couldn't see the end of it - is my plan just going to keep increasing each year? So, I decided not to renew. I'm glad I had the coverage and they were professional enough to deal with, but there is a reason why insurance companies are some of the richest companies on the face of the planet...

If anyone has recommendations for a more affordable plan, I'm looking...

[mr.stinky]

worldnomads?

currently $405 annually for u.s. citizens (not valid in us or canada).

for the second year, they gave me a discount to $385.

haven't needed them yet, but i've heard positive things.

[kayro]

Hi everyone, just wanted to try resurrecting this thread, since i'll be in a similar situation next year.

Found another thread also touching upon this, but also dated back to 2006...

http://www.chinese-f...olicy-in-china/

1. Health Insurance: Any new advice, insights regarding recommendable medical insurance providers?

2. Health Insurance: In particular, anyone have experience or heard of anything about Interglobal? They seem to have decent plans at decent prices with specialized plans for both international students and English teachers.

International Student

http://www.interglob...ts/default.aspx

English Teachers

http://www.interglob...rs/schools.aspx

3. Life Insurance: Also, anyone have advice on a cheap term life insurance provider for approx USD 50-100K, that will provide coverage in China?

Thanks!