This is the step almost everyone gets wrong — and the one with the most money on the line. You can get excellent, cheap care in China and still get nothing back from your insurer if you fly home without the right paperwork. Here’s how to avoid that.
The one rule: no fapiao, no reimbursement
A fapiao (发票) is China’s official, government-issued tax invoice. A payment screenshot, a WeChat receipt, or a printed total is not a fapiao and most insurers will reject it. You must ask for the fapiao at the cashier, in person, before you leave — chasing it later is difficult and sometimes impossible.
What your insurer will actually ask for
To reimburse overseas treatment, most international and travel insurers require:
- The original stamped fapiao (发票)
- An itemized cost breakdown (费用明细单), stamped by the hospital finance office
- A medical record / discharge summary (出院小结), signed by the physician
- Lab results, imaging reports, and prescriptions
- An English translation of the diagnosis and key documents
Everything above is issued in Chinese by default. Getting it in a claim-ready, translated form is the part that trips people up.
Where claims break
- Not asking for the fapiao at the counter. This is the #1 mistake.
- Only getting a lump-sum fapiao with no itemized breakdown — insurers want line items.
- No English translation of the diagnosis, so the insurer can’t assess the claim.
- Missing the physician-signed record that links the treatment to a diagnosis.
- For some local/cross-city insurance: skipping an advance out-of-area treatment registration.
A simple checklist before you fly home
- Original stamped fapiao for every payment
- Itemized cost breakdown (费用明细单)
- Signed medical record / discharge summary
- All lab and imaging reports
- English translation of the diagnosis and records
- Your insurer’s claim form completed
Pay-upfront is normal — plan for it
At public hospitals you pay out of pocket and claim later; direct billing (cashless) exists only at a few premium international hospitals. Budget to pay first and be reimbursed afterwards — and keep every document above.
How we help: We make sure you walk out with a proper itemized fapiao, signed records, and English translations — then help you file the claim. It’s the most overlooked part of medical travel, and the one we never let slip.
New to the system? Start with how to see a doctor in China as a foreigner.