Insurance & payment
Two ways foreign patients settle bills at Chinese hospitals: direct billing (the hospital invoices your insurer, you pay little or nothing on the spot) and pay-and-claim (you pay, keep receipts, and reclaim from your insurer). Which one you get depends on the hospital's international department and your insurer's network — our hospital pages state, with sources, where official pages confirm direct billing.
The two settlement models
| Direct billing (直付) | Pay & claim (先付后赔) | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Hospital or its assistance partner invoices the insurer directly | You pay all costs, submit receipts, insurer reimburses per policy |
| Where | Usually only via the hospital's international/foreign-guest department, and only with insurers the hospital names | Everywhere, including ordinary departments |
| What you need | Insurance card / guarantee-of-payment (GOP) from insurer or assistance company | All receipts (发票), itemized bills, diagnoses, prescriptions |
| Watch out | Confirm in writing before treatment that your specific plan is in the hospital's direct-billing list | Reimbursement caps, deductibles and excluded treatments per your policy |
Finding direct-billing hospitals on this site
Every hospital page shows a “Direct billing” line: yes only where the hospital's own official pages say so (with an excerpt and link), no where its pages lack such a statement, and “not stated” where we could not verify. Start from the city pages: Beijing · Shanghai · Guangzhou · Shenzhen.
What travel health insurance should cover in China
- Outpatient + inpatient at private-pay rates — international departments charge several times the standard Chinese rate.
- Emergency evacuation / repatriation — the big cost driver for serious cases.
- Direct billing or a 24/7 assistance line that issues a guarantee of payment to hospitals.
- Trips before/after treatment if you are combining care with travel (check medical-tourism exclusions).
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Payment methods actually accepted
- WeChat Pay / Alipay — the default at kiosks and hospital apps. Foreign passports can now register real-name wallets with international cards (acceptance for medical payments varies; set up in advance).
- UnionPay bank cards and cash (RMB) — universally accepted at cashier windows.
- Visa/Mastercard — at international departments and some self-service kiosks; not reliable in ordinary departments.
- Foreign health insurance cards (Cigna, Allianz, AXA, Bupa etc.) — only where the hospital's page names them (see hospital pages).
Cost anchors (official figures)
For context on international-demand medical care in China, our data page carries official government statistics — e.g. the Boao Lecheng medical tourism pilot zone's visitor numbers — each with its government source URL. We do not publish unverifiable industry estimates.
Last reviewed / data verified: . All facts on this page link to their official sources.