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killian

my chinese co-workers all carry health insurance cards. i have never received one in china. korea and taiwan had them issued to me in short order. china collects about 17% of my pay as taxes. when i got sick i asked personnel about the promised health insurance. they hemmed and hawed and i am not being renewed. surprise.

do any foreign teacher here actually have health cards?

ttorriel · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 193

I have no card and have had NO problem with my employer paying for various medical costs, including surgery and extended hospital stays.

As for not "being renewed," maybe you are just not a good teacher or have had other issues. I don't see them not offering an additional contract period based on asking for your health insurance documentation.

Sinobear · Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 1269 Location: Purgatory

There's no universal health system, so no universal health care card!

You can get private health coverage, at a great cost to yourself, but run-of-the-mill insurance doesn't cover a great deal.

Perhaps you are mistaking hospital registration cards for health insurance cards?

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

The Ever-changing Cleric · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 1523

if your school provides medical insurance for you (quite a few do these days) then you should have a health insurance card. i have one as does every other teacher at this school.

i dont see any connection between asking about health insurance and not being asked to stay. other issues must be afoot.

mdovell · Joined: 02 Nov 2009 Posts: 131

I had some conjunctivitis...
the school I was at brought me to the "dispensary" and he examined me for around 20 seconds.
whopping cost of two meds was 30 cents!

I'd definably check with a doctor before taking meds though...drugs stores sold me odd stuff before I saw him.

Mikeylikesit114 · Joined: 21 Dec 2007 Posts: 129

I have an insurance card. My school deducts 216 rmb from my salary every month and then they match 3 times the contribution. I probably have about 15000 rmb on the card by now.

MisterButtkins · Joined: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 1221

No insurance, it clearly says in my contract that the school doesn't provide insurance. I live in a small town and wouldn't be willing to see the doctors here anyways.

mep3 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 212

[quote="The Ever-changing Cleric"]if your school provides medical insurance for you (quite a few do these days) then you should have a health insurance card. i have one as does every other teacher at this school.

i dont see any connection between asking about health insurance and not being asked to stay. other issues must be afoot.[/quote]

Mikeylikesit114 corroborates the above. My experience at university was more like MisterButtkins but a little different -- we did get insurance but it only covered really minor stuff.

Mikeylikesit114 and The Ever-changing Cleric: are your schools language schools or universities? And do you have a general idea of the scope (e.g. how big) of the coverage?

Mep

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

My university offered it. I accepted it, then that was the end of it. No card, no insurance. A follow-up with the FAO resulted in a completely clueless answer.

"Huh?"

mep3 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 212

I think maybe it is deliberately left vague in a lot of cases. It's one of the most difficult matters China as a nation is trying to deal w right now. They have a ten year NHI policy that will be fairly hard and slow, and I don't know if it will apply to foreigners at all. Well, there's a good side and a bad side to it I guess. On the one hand, you could say if they weren't paying their army so much to stay in power, they'd have more money for national health insturance. On the other hand, you could say they're trying to do a lot more than a lot of countries with a lot more $ per capita. Ultimately I suppose both are true.

My guess is that they leave it vague with the FT's in some cases on purpose, and what it comes down to is that if they really like you, and you are in a bind, they will help you. But if they don't think you're a dedicated teacher, they won't.

Admittedly just speculating

chengdu4me · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:40 am Post subject:

I have private medical insurance paid for my the school as well as my "patient number" card issued by the hospital. The insurance covers medical and dental, government provided services or private.

HAHA...Gotta love China! Whenever I have a medical expense, my wife calls the agent and he wheels over on his moped and takes the receipt. Then in about two weeks, he wheels back over and hands us cash for the payment. He is very accommodating. He will meet us anywhere, just about any time of day.

There hasn't been a problem yet getting paid or them accepting any of the expenses.

China.Pete · Joined: 27 Apr 2006 Posts: 547

Some have suggested that the OP wasn't renewed because he/she wasn't a good or dedicated enough teacher. I cannot imagine how anyone working in this industry could have gotten the impression that being "good" or "dedicated" has all that much to do with getting one's contract renewed. I seriously doubt that most school functionaries would even see eye-to-eye with those using such terms on what, exactly, they mean.

Now, regarding the OP's query, it's true that many urban Chinese are indeed covered by an employer-based public health plan. A certain amount is deducted from their monthly salary for that coverage, although this is not related to the 17 percent deducted from the OP's wages for income tax. FTs are not, to my knowledge, covered by such schemes, any more than casual Chinese migrants from the countryside would be.

Once upon a time, schools would simply pay for any necessary medical care for FTs at the local hospital. Some schools, particularly government ones, still follow this practice. Others, including most international schools, will purchase private group health insurance for their FTs. A third class of schools, and my sense is that these are growing in number, simply leave everything up to the FTs to sort out. The OP's soon-to-be former school would appear to fall into this last category.

El Chupacabra · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 378 Location: Kwangchow

Doesn't my U.S. Passport now count as a health care card? Universal health care is the promise, right? Heck, the IRS reaches its tentacles out here. Or do I have to move back in with my parents to qualify?

No, I've never seen one of the Chinese health insurance cards.

killian · Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:28 pm Post subject:

i saw chinese health cards. my chinese co-workers all had them. i was brought over from korea with all kinds of promises that didn't flesh out. health care, contractually stipulated (something everyone has in korea and taiwan)was denied to me in china. china is nice, just don't get sick there.

yes, i made waves about such. now i am in hawaii and all is well.