J1 Visa Insurance Requirements Change in 2015

Posted on Friday, December 5th, 2014 at 8:49 am

J1 Travel to the USA

The J1 Visa is probably one of the most well known visa types for students to come to the USA to work and study. Introduced in 1961, it has grown in popularity to become one of the primary ways students can participant in Work and Travel programs, Au Pair programs, Internships and all the other J1 Visa Categories. For more detailed information about the J1 visa, please visit our very comprehensive section explaining all the main details about this visa type.

Of course there are many different requirements that need to be met in order to qualify for the J1 Visa, but one of the requirements of the visa is that the participant holds an insurance policy that will cover their medical expenses during their time in the USA. Set in 1993, the requirements were as follows:

• Medical Benefits of at least $50,000 per accident or illness
• Repatriation of Remains in the amount of $7,500
• Expenses associated with the medical evacuation of the exchange visitor to his or her home country in the amount of $10,000
• A deductible not to exceed $500 per accident or illness
• A policy underwritten by an insurance carrier with:
  • an AM Best rating of “A-” or above
  • an Insurance Solvency International, Ltd (ISI) rating of “A-I” or above
  • a Standard and Poor’s Claims Paying Ability rating of “A-” or above
  • or a Weiss Research, Inc. rating of “B+” or above

While to many around the world, the levels of coverage may seem adequate for a temporary visitor, the USA medical system is the most expensive in the world. $50,000 does not actually go very far if you are hospitalized, and so there have been calls to increase these limits to protect students.

On the 6th October 2014, the US Department of State issued a final rule that would make a number of changes to the way the J1 Visa program is run, and as part of that the levels of insurance coverage were changed to:

• Medical benefits of at least $100,000 per accident or illness
• Repatriation of remains in the amount of $25,000
• Expenses associated with the medical evacuation of exchange visitors to his or her home country in the amount of $50,000
• Deductibles not to exceed $500 per accident or illness.
• A policy underwritten by an insurance carrier with:
  • an A.M. Best rating of ‘‘A-’’ or above;
  • a McGraw Hill Financial/Standard & Poor’s Claims paying Ability rating of ‘‘A-’’ or above;
  • a Weiss Research, Inc. rating of ‘‘B+’’ or above;
  • a Fitch Ratings, Inc. rating of ‘‘A-’’ or above;
  • a Moody’s Investor Services rating of ‘‘A3’’ or above;

The main changes are to the levels of coverage, up to $100,000 for medical benefits, up to $25,000 for repatriation of remains, up to $50,000 for medical evacuation, and the inclusion of more rating agencies. The main changes have all be highlighted in red.

Update: These new levels of coverage will come into effect on May 15th 2015, so any participants who are in the USA on a J1 Visa on this date will need to meet these new requirements. For more detailed information about the J1 Visa, please be sure to visit our visa section covering all the main aspects of the visa:

http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/j1student/

Posted by Ross Mason

Ross is the Vice President of International Student Insurance, with over 15 years experience in the international education arena. A graduate from the Nottingham Trent University in the UK with a First in BSc (Hons) Business and Technology, Ross has lived all around the world including LA, New York, Boston, London, Hong Kong, Florida and Germany.