1.a Can anyone tell me, in a nutschell, if the NHI covers medical expenses when I travel overseas? *)
1.b In case they do, will they cover expenses for a surgery if I prefer to do this somewhere else and not here in Taiwan?
*) I mean I pay cash up-front and upon return to Taiwan I claim it back like I would from a private insurance.
Rascal,
The NHI covers medical expenses while overseas, including surgery and childbirth.
In order to claim reimbursement for those expenses occurred overseas you should make the claim within six months after the unexpected occurrence with receipts, including detailed service items and documents of diagnosis.
For more detailed explanation, visit the Department of Health website:
doh.gov.tw/
No it doesn’t.
Dunno if the rules changed, but it does according to this site:
doh.gov.tw/logo012/english/b … 0824-1.htm
Wolf, pls check it out.
It does say that, but the last time I left for a short trip, I was told by a little bird that separate insurance was needed. The insurance company – a big, famous one – confirmed this.
So, either I was scammed by the insurance company (possible) or I will be eating crow tonight (with garlic, please), or something has changed since the Web posting you refer to.
Who the hell knows? The question is: Has anyone reading this actually incurred medical bills outside of Taiwan and tried to be reimbursed?
I think it is still a good idea to spend NT$1,000-2,000 for one of those travel insurance packages, just in case. Especially if you are going somewhere like the US where medicine costs an arm and a leg.
How do you get traveller’s insurance? From the travel agency?
If NHI says they’ll reimburse you for expenses abroad, there might be a $ limit right?
Also, thanks for posting that link… I was able to find the routine immunization schedule.
Jennifer
I’ll be testing this policy as I incurred US $400 of emergency room charges when the ankle cast the Taiwanese hospital put on became really, really loose after about a week…I have the receipts and will be chasing this one to its conclusion hoping to get that money back. 
You can get travellers’ insurance from the travel agent or at those insurance counters you see at the airport (both CKS and KHH have them). They only run from NT$1,000 to NT$3,000 or so, depending on how many days you want it and the amount of coverage. Not a big price to pay for some extra security if something should happen when you are abroad.
For bills incurred overseas, NHI only pays the amount that would have been charged in Taiwan for the same treatment. For example - MRI in States - USD1400
same MRI in Taiwan- NT 16000 so that what they will cover.
That’s not good, as I usually pay for stuff like x-rays with the loose change out of my purse in Taiwan. That definitely wasn’t the case in the US. The insulting thing was that they added 8.8% as an “indigent medical care fee” – not having insurance, I consider myself medically indigent in this country. I’ll probably get like NT$500 or something. Oh well, it’s better than nothing I guess. We’ll see how it goes. 
Panda is right…
In addition, I believe that term “emergency” treatment is the key trouble spot for most cases…
You may also encounter some challenges dealing with the counter staff (who are likely contract workers for BNHI, rather than gov’t employees) – these contract workers are not always up on all the rules. Speak with manager if u can’t get a clear answer on this issue.
If you can, please let us know which branch of the BNHI u went to and how well they dealt with your case…
Did anyone succeed in claiming overseas medical costs?
I have some costs from China which I am planning to claim in a few weeks time on return to Taiwan.
Unfortunately that counter-revolutionary hotbed of subversion
is blocked so I cannot read the regulations.
Overseas medical costs and Taiwan National Health Insurance
Well ask the question another way - does anyone have a claim being processed, or did anyone have a claim rejected
Basically, the moral is: There is no NHI coverage when going abroad. I always get insurance at the airport. I’ll probably still do that because [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/intl-health-insurance-for-taiwan-expats-not-covered-by-nhi/571/42 medical insurance[/url] only covers serious stuff, and the airport stuff doesn’t really cost that much (but does it work? When you right the Taiwan number in an emergency what happens?). Funny it all adds up though. So I looked at Amex multi-trip insurance in Taiwan. Sadly a pale imitation of multi-trip insurance I’ve seen advertised in the UK. Must ask my broker about this.
I use ING whenever I travel. Have made claims and they have always been very prompt about reimbursing me. They used to have a counter in the CKS check-in lobby, but have done away with this in favor of a dial-up service. Super easy: They keep your travel insurance preferences on file, so all you do is call up, tell them where you are going and for how long and say that you want the same coverage as previously. 0800-011-686.