Updated January 28, 2021
Sup Expats,
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in China. However, a few living issues indeed drove me crazy. Dealing with the reimbursement of my diabetes medical bills was certainly one of the worst experiences.
In fact, the process of getting the medical/health insurance bills reimbursed is not all that complicated. However, I did face problem. I didn’t know the language. I didn’t know some simple basics of the whole reimbursement process. That cost me money. Literally!
In this post, let me summaries what you need to know about the medical bill reimbursement in China.
China Expat Health Insurance Plan
Well, my medical insurance is provided by my employer. I didn’t pay anything for it (at least I am not aware of any insurance premium deduction from my salary).
The insurance plan covers all general diseases and health conditions. Dental care, HIV, cancer, etc. are generally not covered.
Why Reimbursement?
When you need to spend money for health issues, such as the doctor consultation fees, buying medicine, surgeries, etc., you are expected to pay the bill by yourself. Keep the bills, and apply for reimbursement. The process is quite straightforward.
My Medical Bills
As mentioned in my earlier posts, I was detected with a high-grade diabetes in the early 2019. It took me a few months to get back to normal life. I spent nearly RMB 5,000 (RMB 7 = US $1) in my diabetes treatment. I wanted to reimburse the bills. The whole reimbursement process turned out to be a nightmare.
The Problem with Reimbursement of My Medical Bills
This is a bit complicated story. I will spare you the details. Here is the quick summary of the whole fiasco.
In the beginning of my diabetes treatment, I wasn’t sure how long it’d take to recover from the diabetes. I wasn’t sure how much would be my total expenses. Hence, I didn’t apply for the reimbursement until May 2020 (the Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing). I gave medical bills to my employer in May 2020. Fortunately, I forgot to give them one bill worth RMB 500.
By October 2020, I hadn’t received any money. I was worried as my work contract (+Chinese work visa) was expiring in November 2020. After multiple phone calls, and waste of lots of time, it turned out that my employer had lost my original medical bills. The original bills were required to get the money back. There was no way.
I visited the hospital multiple times to get the original bills reprinted; however, the hospital didn’t print the bills.
I lost the money. I realized this after wasting a good amount of time over 5-6 months. I always needed someone (from my colleague) to help me communicate with the employer (as I didn’t speak Chinese).
Often, my colleagues asked me to forget about the reimbursement as my salary was higher.
Further, during my visits the hospitals, I didn’t ask the doctor to write the prescription on my medical booklet. This was a mistake.
Regarding the RMB 500 bill, which I didn’t submit for the reimbursement, there was no prescription on my booklet. I went to the hospital again, booked an appointment with a diabetes specialist, and requested the doctor to write the prescription on my booklet (with matching one-year-old date, consistent with that of the RMB 500 bill). The doctor was very kind. She checked the record on her computer and wrote the prescription in my booklet.
Now I have applied for the reimbursement of the RMB 500 bills.
How To Get the Medical Bills Reimbursed?
Here is a quick list of what you have to do in order to get the bills reimbursed.
Medical Booklet
Buy a medical booklet at your hospital. It’ll cost RMB 1, or so. You can’t get cheaper than that. Make sure your name on the booklet is exactly same as in your passport. Don’t write your Chinese name of the booklet.
If you are visiting multiple hospitals, make sure you have a separate booklet for each hospital.
Collect Medical Bills
Keep your original bills intact. You can’t claim medical insurance if you don’t have the original bills. It seems impossible to get the original bills reprinted. Photocopies of the bills are not accepted by the insurance company.
Written Prescription
Every time you visit the hospital, ask your doctor to write your health conditions and medical (medicine) details in the booklet. Make sure the doctor writes the date of your visit. In general, the doctors will write the prescription by themselves. However, make sure that they indeed write. Make sure you bring the booklet (if you don’t bring booklet, doctor won’t write). For every medical bills, you should have the prescription (of that date) on the booklet.
Obviously, if you buy medicines without a doctor’s prescription, in all likelihood, you won’t be able to claim health insurance.
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Documents Required for Medical Bill Reimbursement
- Copy of your passport,
- Copy of your bank card (the card number should be very clear),
- Name of your bank (bank account number is not required),
- All original medical bills (photocopy not accepted),
- A medical booklet with the doctor’s prescription (photocopy of the prescription is accepted).
When to Apply for Medical Bill Reimbursement?
There seems to be no fixed timeline. You can apply for reimbursement anytime you want. I think once you have collected bills worth RMB 100+; you should consider applying for the reimbursement.
Can You Apply for Reimbursement of Old Medical Bills?
It seems that as long as you can provide all the documents, it’s okay even if your bills are 3 years old (this is my 4th year in China).
How to Apply for Medical Bill Reimbursement?
You can ask your employer. I did the same. However, the person responsible for helping me was utter naïve. He lost the bills. Further, he is an old guy, about to retire. So, he wasn’t always available in the office. He didn’t pick my phone as he didn’t speak English. He didn’t accept my WeChat friend request as I was not really his friend. It was freaking summer season. Okay, okay, enough BS! I’ll spare you the details.
Once I knew that my bills were lost, I directly got in touch with the representative of the insurance company. I added him in WeChat. He guided me through the whole process. I sent him my RMB 500 bill, with all the required documents by courier (Kuai Di; RMB 8). He has already confirmed receipt of all the documents.
I am waiting for receiving RMB 500 in my bank account. 🙂
Final Thoughts
Getting medical bills reimbursed can be tricky in China. Make sure you keep the original bills safe. Maintain a medical booklet. Don’t wait too long to apply for reimbursement. It’s totally fine to directly contact the insurance company.
