These universities mandate that all of their students must enroll into the university sponsored insurance and they don’t provide any other alternative. Such plans are usually the same for local students as well as for international students and are usually PPACA (Affordable Care Act) compliant. In such cases, the student has no option than to enroll into the school sponsored medical insurance.
These universities offer the health insurance to their international students if they wish. However, they provide the flexibility to purchase international student medical insurance from the market, as long as such insurance meets the minimum criteria specified by the university. Such requirements are usually specified in the waiver form. After the student medical insurance is purchased, the waiver form should be sent to us so that we can get it completed and provide it back to you so that you can submit to your college.
In such schools, you are required to either purchase school sponsored insurance or an alternate complaint insurance and can not be uninsured.
In such a scenario, many international students prefer to purchase an alternate compliant insurance as it is cheaper and does not have some of the coverages that they would never need, such as pregnancy coverage for a single male.
Some schools, typically the smaller ones, have no minimum requirements for the international student health insurance as long as the students purchase some medical insurance. In that case, you can purchase any eligible student medical insurance that is the most suitable to you.
There are some schools that don’t mandate any insurance, but you should purchase international student insurance anyway. International students are usually on a tight budget and they think that they are young and healthy and they don’t need any health insurance as nothing is going to happen to them. However, unexpected illnesses and especially injuries or accidents can occur to any one of any age at any time. And without the proper health insurance, healthcare in the US is quite unaffordable for most people, leaving international students the most vulnerable.
Most of the students are in more or less in a similar age group. Therefore, the age is not a very big factor for most students in determining the cost of international student insurance. Of course, older the student is, higher the cost of health insurance will be.
The cost of international student insurance is based on the length of the coverage you are looking for. Most universities require the proof of insurance for at least one semester or the proof for the entire year, including the summer break, is more common.
If you need the proof of coverage for the entire duration, in most student medical insurance plans, you will have to pay for the entire desired duration upfront. However, some international student insurance plans will allow you to pay in monthly installments, as they are aware the international students are on a tight budget.
Unlike the travel medical insurance plans, within a given international student insurance plan, there are usually not multiple choices of deductible or policy maximum.
However, many international student insurance plans have a different deductible (lower) when the student first seeks the treatment in student health center.
Typically, the same insurance company offers different levels of coverage and benefits within the same international student insurance plan. The exact names of such variations may vary, but they usually come in different policy maximums, offer a variety of coinsurance options and also may have additional benefits such as maternity, or enhance coverage for pre-existing conditions.
This is the most important coverage and is designed to generally cover any unexpected sickness, injuries or accidents that may occur after the effective date of the policy.
If you need any specific coverages such as maternity or enhance pre-existing conditions coverage, please look at the certificate wording of the plan for the complete details.
If the insured gets seriously sick or injured and the local healthcare facility is unable to provide adequate treatment, emergency medical evacuation can provide the transportation to the nearest place where adequate care can be given.
Some people may mistakenly think that all the medical facilities are available everywhere in the US. However, there are many situations where such transportation is required such as accident on a highway or when you are in a small town, or in a remote location, especially when going out of town for a vacation.
In case of an unfortunate event of the international student passing away while in the US, international student insurance can pay for sending the body back to the home country. Some international student insurance plans provide an alternate coverage for local burial or cremation if their family desires to avail it.
Young international students may be away from their home for the first time, for a long time, along with the pressure of adjusting in a new environment and a lot of studies, and due to variety of other reasons, they may have trouble with mental & nervous disorders. Therefore, most international student insurance plans provide some level of inpatient and/or outpatient coverage for mental & nervous disorders.
As young people including the international students are vulnerable to the bad company and may get into alcohol or substance abuse, most international student insurance plans provide some coverage for the same, but not all. Please review the certificate wording for complete details.
If your university requires the insurance company to complete the waiver form, send that to us ahead of the time so that we can review it and suggest you the most suitable international student insurance for your needs that would meet the minimum requirements for health insurance mandated by them.
Otherwise, you can get the instant quotes of various international student insurance plans, compare them side by side and make an instant purchase online.
After you purchase the insurance, please complete your portion of the waiver form and send it to us. We will get the rest completed by the insurance company and send it back to you so that you can submit it to your school and you can proceed with the registration of your classes.
It is not possible for the insurance company to complete the waiver form before you purchase the insurance. The waiver form will show the duration for which you have purchased the insurance.
