China health insurance with direct billing

I recently became sick and spent 2 weeks in the hospital because of the mononucleosis. I went in the foreign section of Huashan hospital and I think they are good, but my insurance (a kind of French social security for expats = CFE) has no contracts with hospitals in China, so I had to pay 30000 RMB from my pocket (I will be reimbursed in one month).

The problem is that it can be much more expansive if I need surgery so I’m looking for an insurance which does direct billing in Shanghai (and in France). I asked the accountant to give me the list of insurance companies which have contract with them.

Is anyone having some experience with direct billing insurance for expats in China ? 

Which insurance you think would fit to a single young man (it can be an insurance not listed above)? I heard BUPA or CIGNA are very good, but they don’t appear in the list…

Thanks.

PS: I would like to advice you to NOT go to Changzheng hospital near People Square, I went there 4 days before going to Huashan and they were not very hygienic and they were wrong: they gave me antibiotics whereas I had a virus infection…

The best would be to contact an insurance broker in China such as China Expat Heath they have some information about direct billing providers on their website.

They can explain clearly the difference between companies. Most can offer direct billing if you pay extra. I use ICBC-AXA health insurance and they offer a good level of coverage, others offer even more depending on how much you want to pay for your premium.

Just now, Benoit said:

Thank you for your answers,

By chance I will completely heal from this sickness (I’m almost like before now), and I’m not waiting for money from a new insurance for this sickness, let’s just say it’s the price for having neglected my insurance choice before! 

Theses days I’m contacting insurances directly, I prefer to search myself first and contact an insurance broker later if needed. I will write the results here in case it can be useful for somebody else.

The benefit of using a good broker is that they know all the questions and possible variables  factors that may affect the type of insurance you might need. 

Also a broker who represents alot of other clients can sometimes have leverage with the insurer and I have actually found I get treated better by the insurer when using a broker.