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| Do You Have Health Insurance? |
| Medical and Dental |
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25% |
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| Medical only |
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33% |
[ 4 ] |
| My School does NOT Cover My Insurance |
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41% |
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| Total Votes : 12 |
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rc81
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 85
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 Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:21 pm Post subject: Do You Have Health Insurance? |
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I just read my contract again and I am just now realizing that there is no mention of any type of health insurance. I teach at a Normal University. Is this common? Is having dental insurance common?
Last edited by rc81 on Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:25 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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hot_water_hillbilly
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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Almost no contract mentions medical insurance
Dental ? hahaahaa - wake up quickly |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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I am pretty sure that if anything happened, the kind officials at your school would ensure that you were well taken care of at a local clinic. Probably get your cavities patched up and, with their guanxi, even get you a deal on some bonding or laser whitening, if you wanted. Ask and ye shall receive. Foreigners are very, very highly looked upon in the Middle Kingdom!
(Can't say whether the fillings might be cut with a little melamine/sawdust/battery acid, though.) |
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tin man
Joined: 18 Jun 2010
Posts: 137
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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Zero,
I note some sarcasm. How are foreigners treated in China? Not very highly? What about teachers at uni who are middle age and no longer kids? |
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rc81
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 85
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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| hot_water_hillbilly wrote: |
Almost no contract mentions medical insurance
Dental ? hahaahaa - wake up quickly |
hotwaterhillbilly,
do you mean that most do cover health insurance but just choose to not mention it in the contract?
also, has anyone had any dental work done here? i believe i have a tooth abcess and need some fillings. anyone had any experiences with the costs for these things? |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Zero,
I note some sarcasm. How are foreigners treated in China? Not very highly? What about teachers at uni who are middle age and no longer kids? |
Several layers to that.
-On the surface, quite well. You will get invited out a lot and such.
-In their hearts, a lot of Chinese people view foreigners as kind of childish or cartoonish. Wherever your way of things differs from theirs, they assume it's because foreigners are unrefined, dimwitted and na�ve compared to the Chinese.
-Much of their friendliness has to do with them thinking you might be somehow useful to them, either because you, like all foreigners, are rich, or you are dull enough to fall for a scam, or both. They will proceed to do you over, and then you won't feel the Chinese are so friendly after all. But note, this treatment is not reserved for foreigners. This is exactly how they treat each other if they can.
-Overall, the Chinese do pretty well with foreigners, given their short exposure to them. People aren't going to throw rocks at you or tell you to go home. They'll try to be accommodating when you don't speak the language or understand the culture. You won't get the feeling, overall, that people are against you at all. It's better than a lot of countries, I'm sure.
-If you spend a long time in China, the most irritating thing will probably be that you aren't given full value as a person. Any ideas you have will be dismissed or regarded as silly, since you are a big goofy laowai. If you were to achieve anything, it would be because God blessed you to be a laowai from a rich country. You just don't count.
As for how all of this relates to your medical and dental coverage, well, don't feel too bad. I don't think many Chinese have medical coverage, either. When they do, I doubt it is much good at all. And I would say dental coverage is even rarer. |
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China.Pete
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
Posts: 547
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:58 am Post subject: Plenty of Applicants with Fewer Benefits |
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| When I came to China, many universities employing FTs used to take responsibility for our medical care at a local hospital, just as under the former communist work-unit system. The care might not be exactly what you were used to, and significant illnesses could get expensive for the schools (they were usually self-insured), but at least you were taken care of. Nowadays, the Foreign Expert Bureaus seem to have adopted a more laissez-faire attitude regarding health care, and more and more schools seem to have chosen to drop even this coverage. Run-of-the-mill FTs are regarded as chumps, and so are expected to just accept the new state of affairs (and, to be honest, I've noticed very little diminution in the number of applicants seeking such positions). |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: |
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My school has covered all FTs with long-term hospital stay insurance (for example, if we were to need surgery and then recuperation time). Also, they reimburse me up to 500 rmb per month for any incidental medical costs (medicines, doctor check-ups, dental . . . ). I just pay, keep my receipts, submit them, and get my reimbursement about a week later.
And, surprise, I don't agree with "Zero" fully. Some of what he says has merit and I've experienced it to a small degree but mostly I feel needed and respected by my employers and feel nothing but love from my friends. Now, complete strangers on the street with their staring and nudging and sometimes outright laughter? I can't be bothered with those kind of riff-raff! |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| In their hearts, a lot of Chinese people view foreigners as kind of childish or cartoonish. |
Dead on. "Childish" is about right. I finally started to get angry with some people; at first I was thinking they meant well, but then I realized they were (for the most part) being patronizing and condescending. I am an adult, I don't need a babyitter, if I need help, I will ask for it, please don't put food in front of me, if I want something, I'm perfectly capable of getting it myself, yes, I've heard that smoking is bad for my health; my health, my business. In a nutshell: GET OFFA MY BACK!
A bit off topic; sorry, but that hit a nerve. I've never heard of dental coverage, I've always had medical. |
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hot_water_hillbilly
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:57 am Post subject: |
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My bad teeth don't give you cancer if you're forced to breath my exhaled bad breath air.
"my health, my business" ? Give us a break! |
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rc81
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 85
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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| hot_water_hillbilly wrote: |
My bad teeth don't give you cancer if you're forced to breath my exhaled bad breath air.
"my health, my business" ? Give us a break! |
HWH, did you see my questions? |
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choudoufu
Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 3325
Location: Mao-berry, PRC
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:11 am Post subject: |
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the contract i just received offers medical coverage, or a cash
allowance if i purchase my own policy. the allowance is roughly
the equivalent of the cost of my current expat policy. |
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