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Informal Health Insurance Poll - Expats & Locals

michael2015 (784 posts) • 0

If you were working for a local or multinational company in Yunnan, what kind of government and or corporate primary health care benefits would you expect gratis and which ones would you consider paying for.

As an example - I would think catastrophic health care for all would be a national social responsibility, perhaps basic dental care with co-pays, basic vision care with co-pays, and audio/hearing care, with co-pays.

Catastrophic care would also cover families and congenital birth defects, wisdom teeth extractions (for impacted or at risk), government mandated vaccinations (with copays), etc etc etc.

Or alternatively - should the company cover everything and treat employees more like family than mercenaries and should businesses migrate towards employee-owned business models?

Geezer (1953 posts) • 0

A note of caution.

The PRC severely limits opinion polls. Apparently there are regulations as to which organizations are permitted to conduct polls. I would be cautious.

My experience: I assigned business class students to find a Chinese business and ask a series of questions relating to how the business was launched and financed. The exercise was a total failure as students cut and pasted internet articles, mostly on US businesses, and shared the information.

Interestingly, I was called to task for having students do research. Fortunately, my tea session was after I had done a write up on the assignment. I pulled out my five pages of criticism of the student's work and my failure to properly prepare the students in methodology. I agreed not to give any assignments where students were required to interview and question people.

HSBC had done a monthly PMI index, which was quite good, closely related to an official PMI prepared by China's NBS. HSBC abandoned the effort when it was felt the work possibly violated China's secrecy regulations.

Geezer (1953 posts) • 0

@michael2015: I assume your first sentence is a question sans a '?'.

Your next two sentences are, in fact, your response to your own initial sentence. Your fourth sentence basically repeats your second and third sentence concept albeit with a socialist bent. Actually, your fourth sentence is two distinct questions you conflate with 'and.'

Being treated 'like family' is a joke as the literature in both China and the West makes clear; families often do not treat each other well.

You characterize workers who labor for money with the pejorative 'mercenaries.' Usually, workers are heroes in a socialist system and not employee-owners. It may be progressive to envision "employee-owned business models" as ideal but I have my doubts as to the efficacy of this idea.

To return to the China situation, it is the goal of the PRC to provide much, if not all, of the peoples' needs. Unfortunately, the resources available to achieve that goal are far exceeded by resources needed and demand. Over the last 30m plus years, I have witnessed significant improvement in the healthcare of workers in China. Healthcare, like education, defense, island building, roads and bridges, aircraft carriers and social stability, all make demands on resources. The silly parochial wishes of foreign workers are immaterial to the problems faced by China.

Perhaps if respected your audience as more than mere grubers and put some thought into the realities of the world you might find the complexities prevent simplistic solutions.

michael2015 (784 posts) • 0

Geezer
Thanks for the feedback and personal experience with your students. 30m years of China observation is quite impressive.

I don't expect the solution to be simple - but even complicated problems must eventually be broken down into constituent components, to be eventually resolved. The key was to try to identify a potentially feasible solution, then break it into executable components.

As I understand the way China appears to work or appears to work in Kunming - government organizations lead first, followed by industry. In cases where industry moves first, with allowances for talented firms, such as firms like alibaba et al.

Internal operating models I'm considering are employee owned firms, similar to US employee owned firms, using benefits such as healthcare, childcare, career growth, etc to further bind employees and reduce turnover, and hopefully improve or implement employer-employee loyalty as a culture and ethic.

I understand the negatives of abusive family treatment and those abuses will of course be risks to companies with that kind of philosophy, so built-in checks and balances to prevent, punish, and or discourage that kind of behavior would need to be engineered into the company's DNA.

I detest doing this kind of prep work - but if I don't do it, it won't get done. The alternative is be lazy and drop in a status quo system, which is looking mighty desirable right now.

The focus is domestic employees.

Geezer (1953 posts) • 0

@micharl2015: Oh, sorry. I didn't realize I was addressing someone with a messianic bent.

I shall leave you to your prep work as I thought most of it had been covered by Marx, Engels, Smith, Gladstone, Mao, Deng and a few other guys. Good luck.

vicar (817 posts) • 0

All businesses in China are run by the people as mentioned in the country's name and everyone has the opportunity to start up their own business with their own model if they don't like where they working. Horses for courses. In China the choices are wide. Do you wanna earn less and get more benefits or earn more with risk (though with more cash you can get your own insurance tailored to your needs - or don't buy insurance and save the money for if /when needed). Are you looking at something geared towards the Japanese model? I.e All the benefits in the world, house and car, tied to the same little world for life? As for status quo - rocking all over the world!

AlexKMG (2387 posts) • 0

@michael2015
I think the larger multinationals whom send expats over need to provide all home coverage and then add in medvac, plus a whole host of other services, amenities, and bonuses. Now they don't send over except highly technical or upper managers, since it's possible to hire local talent both Chinese or expat.

@Geezer. The HSBC pmi index is on going, but run by Markit.

michael2015 (784 posts) • 0

Vicar
I was thinking of something similar to the Swiss model. I haven't studied the Japanese model yet.

Alex
Thanks for the feedback.

Dazzer (2813 posts) • 0

i think the larger multinationals provide the level of cover expected by the culture of the company, expectations for people from their home country, and their level. coupled with minimum cost tot he company. global corps will have standard set by global hq and will depend on what the expectation is in that country, sometimes based on law of that country.

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