Buy a policy that covers overseas medical care and medical evacuation, and do not buy only flight-delay insurance

Medical bills abroad come out of your own pocket. China's basic medical insurance almost never pays them, and the embassy or consulate will not advance the money either. What can really drag a family under is not the outpatient fee. It is the hospital stay after a serious injury, and getting the person home, which takes a special flight or a medical escort. When you buy travel insurance, look mainly at 2 limits: overseas medical expenses, and emergency medical evacuation and return.

Benefit

Medical bills abroad are yours to pay. Domestic yibao (医保 — basic medical insurance) basically does not reimburse care abroad. Consular protection does not advance this money either. See item 3 of this section (what consular protection can and cannot do). The basis is Article 26 of the regulations. What can really drag a family under is not the outpatient fee. It is the hospital stay after a serious injury, and medical evacuation. Moving a person from a hospital abroad back to China takes a special flight or a medical escort, and that is among the most expensive items you pay for yourself. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that emergency transport of a patient from a remote place to a good hospital, if you pay it yourself, can cost more than 100000 US dollars. When you buy insurance, look first at 2 limits. The first is the limit for overseas medical expenses. The other is the limit for emergency medical evacuation and return, which is how much can be paid, at most, for a transfer after something happens and for sending the person home.

Notes

100000 US dollars is a floor, not a range of costs. No published official or industry range of costs was found, so this book does not write a specific range. Before you buy, confirm 3 things. First, whether the country you are going to is inside the coverage. Second, whether high-risk activities such as diving, skiing, and riding a motorcycle are excluded. Third, whether the insurer settles directly with the hospital, or you pay first and claim it back later. Buy it for a visa-free country as well.

Sources · 2

1. 国务院 (2023). 领事保护与协助条例（国令第 763 号）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202307/content_68917…（第二十六条）；美国疾病控制与预防中心. Travelers' Health: Travel Insurance：「Medical evacuation insurance covers emergency transportation from a remote area to a high-quality hospital, which could otherwise cost more than $100,000.」. wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/insurance
2. 其余为作者经验，无直接文献