When it comes to insurance in China, the largest demand by foreigners currently is health insurance. But even when it comes to health insurance, there are many variations and types of insurance plans available on the market. You might be overwhelmed by the variety of choices and not knowing the detailed benefits that is provided within each plan. Here are some types of health insurance that is available on the market:
Hospitalization Insurance (Inpatient only coverage)
This is the most basic type of health insurance available, and is sometimes referred to as the core coverage plan. This type of insurance will cover only when the insured needs to be admitted to a hospital ward, and sometimes including day ward as well (those do not require overnight stays). Such insurance usually covers ward charges, surgical operation charges, prescriptions, tests, medical equipment charges, emergency evacuation and so on. Some special outpatient charges including cancer outpatient treatments could also be covered, and emergency outpatient charges could also be covered by selected plans.
Inpatient+Outpatient Insurance
This is a more comprehensive insurance compared to hospitalization insurance, where besides the benefits discussed in the hospitalization insurance, regular outpatient charges could also be covered under this insurance. Such outpatient expenses covered under this type of insurance include doctors fee, prescription fee, tests, medical equipment charges and so on. Occasionally, health-screening and vaccination benefits could also be included in this insurance, as well as emergency outpatient dental treatments due to accident.
Inpatient+Outpatient+Dental+Health-Screening Insurance
This is an even more comprehensive insurance compared to the normal inpatient+outpatient insurance. Other than the benefits discussed in the inpatient+outpatient insurance that are included in this type of insurance, dental and health-screening are also covered under this insurance. Dental treatments include preventive, routine and major treatments could be covered under this type of insurance, as well as health-screening and vaccinations. Occasionally, optical benefits could also be included in this type of insurance.
Maternity Insurance
Maternity benefits could be included usually in inpatient+outpatient insurance, where it usually could not be attached to inpatient-only coverage insurance. Maternity coverage includes delivery charges, pre & post-natal, pregnancy complications, newborn care and so on. Note that individual maternity insurance could be costly.
Child-only coverage plans
For most insurance plans they would require the age of the primary insured person to be above 18 years old, and they do not accept child-only applications. There are some plans in the market in China that allow minor applicants (those that are newborn or under the age of 18) to apply by themselves, without having to purchase an adult policy.
Group Health Insurance (for employees in a company)
For companies looking to buy insurance for their employees, group health insurance could be an option as group insurance usually offers a much discounted rate compared to individual insurance policies, up to 50%. The condition for a group insurance policy is usually at least 3 employees, and there is usually no limit on the maximum number of employees for a group insurance policy. The general rule of thumb is the more people there are in a group insurance, the better the benefits you could enjoy.
Above are some types of insurance that are available in the market for foreigners in China, and there are a few more options that you could choose to tailor your coverage:
Area of coverage. There are various geographical coverage options that provide different areas of coverage by the insurance. The options are generally Mainland China, Greater China (Mainland+HK, Macau and Taiwan), Worldwide excluding US and Worldwide.
High-Cost Providers Coverage. Certain hospitals are considered as high-cost providers by the insurance companies, and there are options where they could be covered in full, with a co-payment or excluded from cover.
Public Hospital Only Coverage (including VIP/International Medical Centers). There are a few plans in the market that could provide the option to cover only the public hospitals in China, but including the VIP/International Medical Centers at some public hospitals as well. This is a China-specific type of insurance and is only available in China.
Where to get such insurance?
Ideally is to approach an insurance broker to find the right plan for you, since an insurance broker has plans from multiple insurance companies, An experienced insurance broker, especially if he is experienced in handling insurance requests for foreigners in China (as foreigners could have unique issues of their own), could assist you in finding a suitable insurance plan for you according to your overall needs.
About the author
Jimmy Sun is an insurance broker from Mingya Insurance Brokers, based in Beijing. Jimmy graduated from university in Singapore and received professional insurance training in Singapore, as well, with experience working as an insurance agent at AIA Singapore. Jimmy became an insurance broker at Mingya Insurance Brokers in 2017, and has received multiple awards relating to the health insurance in the company. He's an expert in his field and is delighted to assist with inquiries related to getting insurance in China.
Could scan his QR code for insurance inquiries:
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