{"id":10589,"date":"2020-06-11T01:30:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T00:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/?p=10589"},"modified":"2022-02-14T20:51:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T19:51:28","slug":"travel-insurance-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/travel-insurance-china\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose Your Travel Insurance for China (and why you need it)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"health<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong>: If you are only interested on getting a free quotation for a travel insurance, then we recommend World Nomads (click here to get your free quotation)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Travel Insurance for China – Index<\/h3>\n
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  1. Why do I need an health insurance when I travel to China?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Hospitals in China<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Privacy at the hospital in China<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. What insurance do we recommend?<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. What should a good insurance cover?<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Travel insurance for people over the age of 65<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. What should I do when I need medical assistance?<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Frequently asked questions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    When I decided to go to China for the first time, finding an affordable and comprehensive health insurance<\/strong> was one of my first concerns, as I knew that, while in my country I was covered by the welfare system, in China I was on my own. This also applies to short-term travelers: unless you have international insurance, you won\u2019t be covered while traveling around Asia.<\/p>\n

    Why do I need an health insurance when I travel to China?<\/h2>\n

    Health insurance isn’t compulsory when you travel, so you can still go to Asia without any insurance and hope to never get sick, have an accident, lose your luggage, or having your flight canceled by a storm. <\/p>\n

    However, I won’t do it myself. It’s too risky. Especially when you consider that a good travel insurance only costs you a couple of USD per day. <\/p>\n

    Chinese hospitals are business-oriented and they won’t help you unless you can pay cash in advance or they can verify that you’re covered by adequate medical insurance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I repeat, if you can’t pay nobody will help you. Also, international hospitals in China<\/a> (where doctors and nurses can speak English) are often more expensive than hospitals in the U.S.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve heard plenty of horror stories of western tourists or expats that were left to die or lose a foot in an Asian hospital because, after being a victim of an accident or bad food poisoning, they didn\u2019t have insurance or enough cash to pay for the emergency treatments they needed. Can you afford to pay 5,000 or 10,000 USD cash?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    If you can\u2019t, then I suggest you get a quality travel medical insurance<\/a> before going to China, Thailand, or wherever you are going.<\/p>\n

    Hospitals in China<\/h2>\n

    In China there are mainly two kinds of hospitals: <\/p>\n

    \t1) The public hospitals where nobody speaks English, and where you\u2019ll have to wait for ages, you won\u2019t have any privacy, and where the hygienic conditions are somewhat dubious (there are exceptions but in this case, the prices are usually higher).<\/p>\n

    2) The international hospitals<\/a>, where doctors and nurses can speak English, the service is faster, you’ll get privacy conditions similar to the ones that you find in the west and the overall hygienic conditions are usually better.<\/p>\n

    If you don\u2019t speak Mandarin, you want to end up in an international hospital, especially if you are seriously sick. Because of this, when in 2010 my former boss explained to me that I was going to get an insurance that was going to only cover my expenses in a public hospital, I chose to purchase private insurance by myself.<\/p>\n

    \"travel<\/p>\n

    Privacy at the hospital in China<\/h2>\n

    I took the above pic in one of the best public hospitals in Hangzhou (a metropolis neighboring Shanghai) in 2011: my girlfriend was discussing her case with a doctor and several patients gathered around her looking at her problem and even giving advice to the doctors regarding the treatment. I was amazed by the complete lack of privacy. Chinese people aren\u2019t bad. They just don\u2019t know what the word \u201cprivacy\u201d means.<\/p>\n

    What insurance do we recommend?<\/h2>\n

    For traveling o short-term stays, we recommend World Nomads<\/a><\/strong> because it\u2019s quite flexible (you can choose the duration of your policy), it covers you almost worldwide (so you won\u2019t have to subscribe to a new policy if you live in China and decide to take a holiday in Thailand), it can easily be extended online, you can buy it online even if you have already left your country, its price is quite cheap for the value it offers, it gets consistently good reviews and it comes recommended by Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and many more.<\/p>\n

    Also, besides covering you in the case of sickness and injuries, it provides emergency medical evacuation, it covers you if you have to cancel your trip due to unforeseeable events outside of your control, and it covers your gear (laptop, smartphone, camera, etc) if it gets stolen or damaged whilst traveling.<\/p>\n

    However, note that if you\u2019re going to move to China – or another Asian country – and stay there for a long period of time, let\u2019s say more than 6 months, you may want to check other (more expensive) insurance companies (click here to learn more<\/a>). The reason is that World Nomads, if you have a severe health problem, will send you back to the country where you enjoy national health coverage (for instance to the UK, if you\u2019re a UK resident and are covered by NHS). <\/p>\n

    Thus, if you\u2019re giving up your coverage in your former country of residence because you’re moving out for long periods of time, World Nomads may not be the most appropriate choice. <\/p>\n

    What should a good insurance cover?<\/h2>\n

    In my opinion, the basic requirement you should have is that your insurance covers you for medical expenses, hospitalization, and treatments, medicines, and emergency transport or repatriation.<\/p>\n

    Another important point is to make sure that the insurance covers you for personal liability. This means that if you hurt somebody, you can settle for monetary compensation instead of going to jail. You don\u2019t want to pay the compensation yourself, do you?<\/p>\n

    Also, as already said, there are a lot of nice bonuses you can get such as trip cancellation or interruption reimbursement, extreme sports coverages, stolen or lost personal effects reimbursement, and so on.<\/p>\n

    Regardless of the insurance plan you choose, before purchasing it, I do recommend that you check by yourself what your policy will cover and what situations will be excluded by the coverage. <\/p>\n

    Just to give some examples, if you\u2019re already sick before purchasing the insurance, you won\u2019t be covered for that particular sickness; and if you get drunk, start to punch people on the street, and end up in jail, you\u2019ll be left on your own as well. Just read the policy before buying anything!<\/p>\n

    Click here to check the prices and benefits of World Nomads health insurance.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Travel insurance for people over the age of 65<\/h2>\n

    If you\u2019re aged 65 or above, it can be difficult to find an insurance company that\u2019s willing to cover you. However, there are a few options available in the market, and where the International Medical Group (IMG)<\/a> is one of the biggest companies.<\/p>\n

    The company was founded by Dr. Ian Clarke who is a missionary, physician, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, born and educated in Northern Ireland. He has resided in Uganda since 1988 where he started the company and has run it ever since.<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s review one of their most popular options for senior travelers and that can be used if you\u2019re a US citizen or permanent resident. If you have any other recommendations, feel free to contact us or write a comment below.<\/p>\n

    GlobeHopper Seniors Single Trip travel insurance<\/h3>\n

    As mentioned, GlobeHopper Senior travel insurance<\/a> is provided by IMG and it\u2019s suitable for US citizens and US permanent residents who are aged 65 or above.<\/p>\n

    Worth mentioning is that the insurance offers flexible protection to travelers who purchase an annual plan to cover multiple trips over a 12-month period. Each trip can be a maximum of 30 days during this period, this is also something you should have in mind before buying the insurance.<\/p>\n

    The plan starts from as little as USD 114, depending on the deductible and max coverage option, and can be used for persons who are 65. The eligibility and requirements to get this insurance is listed below:<\/p>\n