[lacrosse]

Hi everyone!
My company is asking me to buy medical/dental health insurance that covers me and my spouse. They are going to add a few thousand dollars to my salary for covering the insurance cost.

How much do you guys have to fork out yearly from your pocket to pay for those insurance? I travel frequently in Asia and to North America. What kind of policy do I need? Plus I know that the extra money added to my salary for purchasing the insurance is taxable since it's cash. Any suggestion on how to deal with this matter? I really dont wanna be short changed. Thanks for your input and suggestion.

[KnowItAll]

lacross : our policy with william rusell ( http://www.william-russell.com/ ) is less than HKD $6-7K / year and includes dental etc ..

They're also an advertiser here and their HK office staff are members .. yeah, I know it might not mean much, but we like supporting folks who support us.

[lacrosse]

Thanks a lot. I will check them out. I am actually looking for plans that have US coverage and evacuation options.

[KnowItAll]

The US coverage is limited to 90 days as far as I can tell .. not looked at the policy in detail, for a while ..

[pumi23]

hi KIA,

i have a question about ur policy:
does it cover acupuncture? i need to have acupuncture treatments frequently, but it really costs a lot.

thx,
sandra

[KnowItAll]

http://www.william-russell.com/health/keyfeatures.asp

Don't want to speak for them ... but they do cover it, but .. pre-existing conditions ...

[pumi23]

KIA, could u plz explain me what do u mean with "pre-existing conditions"?

thx

[PDLM]

Very few insurance policies will cover you for treatment of conditions that existed before you took out the policy.

[pumi23]

ok, got it.

but i think its possible to start the insurance cover first, wait a while and then go to the doctor, rite?

[PDLM]

No - you have to make a full declaration of any conditions which you know about when you apply for the insurance. If you lie and you are caught by the insurance company them you will have to refund them any money paid to you for treatment of those conditions (and get a criminal record).

Remember that insurance companies are not charities - they can only exist if on average you pay more money to them in insurance premiums than they pay back to you for your medical bills.

The only reason to take insurance is if you believe either that you can somehow "beat the odds" (which means that you get more sick than average) or to cover you against events which are very unlikely to happen to you but which if they did you could not afford to pay for.