{"id":11561,"date":"2020-11-24T02:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T01:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/?p=11561"},"modified":"2022-05-09T17:29:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T16:29:51","slug":"travelers-health-insurance-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/travelers-health-insurance-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Insurance for Vietnam – Tips and Suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"seguro<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT: Since March 2022, having travel insurance is required in order to enter Vietnam.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Resason to get a travel insurance for Vietnam<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Hospitals in Vietnam<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Recommended travel insurance for Vietnam<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. The features of a good travel insurance<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \n

    Travel insurance recommended for Vietnam<\/h2>\n
    \n

    \"WorldWorld Nomads<\/a><\/strong>: A complete, low-cost and customizable travel insurance policy with customer service in English. However, their insurance currently isn\u2019t available for residents of the European Union. Get 5% off using the coupon SDC.<\/p>\n

    \"SafetySafety Wing<\/a><\/strong>: A basic, very low-cost travel insurance policy with complete medical coverage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Having lived most of my life in Europe, an illusory world where free health care and a state of good health reign supreme, getting medical attention was never one of my worries. In fact, I traveled for a long time around the world without even thinking about the need to get health insurance.<\/p>\n

    It wasn’t until I moved to Asia that I realized the luck I had had during my trips.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Resason to get a travel insurance for Vietnam<\/h2>\n

    Important update<\/strong>: Travel insurance has been required since March 2022. Your insurance policy must cover a minimum of 100,000 USD in medical assistance (including expenses in the event that you develop COVID-19). All of the insurance options recommended in this article meet these requirements.<\/p>\n

    Having health insurance is not a compulsory requirement when traveling to Vietnam, so you can enter the country without insurance.<\/del> However, if you do so, you shall cross your fingers and hope that you don’t get sick or become the victim of an accident. Truth be told, these days I prefer not to tempt fate more than I have already done up until now.<\/p>\n

    The problem with living in a country where hospitals are publicly financed and non-profit is that you don’t realize how expensive medical treatment can be.<\/p>\n

    Hospitals in Vietnam – like in the majority of counties – are not NGOs and are completely oriented toward profit. Nobody will care for you unless you can pay upfront or you are covered by adequate health insurance.<\/p>\n

    When I say that if you don’t pay, nobody will help you, I’m not talking about chump change. International hospitals in Vietnam, where you will find nurses and doctors that can speak English, tend to be very expensive, and at times cost even more than in the United States. We are talking about more than 100 USD for an appointment with a specialist, multiple hundreds for a stomach pump, or tens of thousands for more serious problems such as surgery followed by a multiple-day hospital stay.<\/p>\n

    If you do a bit of research online, you will hear horror stories of foreign tourists whose families have gone bankrupt, or who have been left to die, just because they were not covered by health insurance, and didn’t have the money to pay for the treatment.<\/p>\n

    I assume that when you travel, you put aside 10,000 USD in case something happens to you, Thus, I suggest that you get a quality health insurance policy<\/a> before going to Vietnam or wherever else.<\/p>\n

    Hospitals in Vietnam<\/h2>\n

    In Vietnam you will mainly find two kinds of hospitals:<\/p>\n

    Public hospitals<\/h3>\n

    The advantage of public hospitals is that they are cheaper. However, they present several cons. Public hospitals in Vietnam in general have facilities, hygienic conditions, and equipment that is far below Western standards. In addition, the other main problem is that doctors and nurses are unable to speak a single word of English.<\/p>\n

    If that’s not enough, in Vietnam, it is common to pay extra money to doctors and nurses so that they take care of you. Don’t expect the nurse in a public hospital to give you a wheelchair and push you to go get X-rays even if you have two broken legs. If you don’t pay for it, you will most likely have to drag yourself to the x-ray room.<\/p>\n

    Finally, prepare to fight in overburdened hospital wait lines and endure a complete lack of privacy. The situation is even worse outside the major cities such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.<\/p>\n

    International hospitals<\/h3>\n

    Most of the international hospitals in the country meet international quality standards. In these hospitals, most doctors and nurses can speak English, either because they are foreigners or because they have studied outside of Vietnam. Another perk of these hospitals is that waiting times are much shorter.<\/p>\n

    Considering that the majority of expats who live in Vietnam<\/a> (their main customers) have health insurance with very broad coverage, these hospitals take advantage of this fact to inflate bills, which at times can end up being exaggerated.<\/p>\n

    In addition to the price, international hospitals have the disadvantage that they are almost all found in the two main cities of the country, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, which means that if you are traveling around the country and have an accident or get sick, you may have to travel long distances to be able to access medical attention with certain quality standards.<\/p>\n

    To keep it short, if you don’t speak the local language, you might want to make sure that you end up in an international hospital, especially in the case you get really sick or have an accident. And, considering the costs involved, it’s a good idea to have health insurance.<\/p>\n

    Main international hospitals<\/h3>\n

    Ho Chi Minh<\/strong><\/p>\n