New in HK - Need some advice!

T

Tulip

Registered User
Hi all,
I'm new in HK and have 2 children - 6 yrs old son and 7 months old daughter. Could you please advise me on the following:
- Do I need a medical insurance for the children and I? If so, what do you recommend?
- My son speaks french only and needs english tuitions. Any french speaker teaching english?
- How useful are playgroups for 7 months old babies? Can you recommend one around Pok Fu Lam or Aberdeen?
Thanks a lot!
 
dear tulip,
i can only answer two of your q.

firstly, i think it is good to have insurance because medical fees in hong kong is very expensive, especially for non-local people. you or your child is bound to get sick and having an insurance at least helps with the hospital bills.
i can't answer teh second q but third q, my son is 8 month old and he recently joined a playgroup and he loves it and i love it too. i get to meet other mothers and he gets to play with other babies. i believe gymboroo is around pok fu lam area if i am not mistaken. give them a call because they always have free trial class available for you to try out.

good luck
 
Thanks Shalom,

I'll check out for the playgroup. Any medical insurance plan that you would recommend?
 
Actually the public health is very good here, for most things, although you may have to spend more time waiting around in clinics than with private doctors, especially for non-urgent conditions. Urgent things like giving birth are fine and I paid only HK$250 for my delivery including 2 nights in hospital.

We have private insurance but have found that it doesn't cover us for lots of things. There seem to be dozens of different tiers of BUPA coverage, and you get what you pay for. My daughter has had to have surgery twice which we paid for privately ourselves because the insurance company deemed her conditions to be congenital. Unless you have a very expensive policy the insurers are apt to query the big-ticket items. (They were happy to pay for the doctor's appointments regarding the congenital conditions, even though doctors have to state the diagnosis on the forms, I assume because those visits were not expensive.) Most people get their insurance through their job or their spouse's job; most companies can arrange family packages. This should save you money compared to getting a policy independently. Plus, when I tried to arrange a policy independently a few years ago I found it very hard to get information out of the insurance companies, I assume because they are used to dealing with large groups and can't really be bothered with isolated individuals.
 
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