Study Abroad Insurance Plans
January 22nd, 2007 by International-Student-InsuranceWith over 200,000 US students studying abroad each year (and growing) the need for study abroad insurance is becoming more important each year. This article is designed to provide students with information on what to look for and what options you have when it comes to international insurance for your time abroad.
There are a couple of scenarios when it comes to study abroad insurance and there are several ways you could be covered. The first is through your school, as some schools provide their own insurance plan that they ask students to take out before they study abroad. These plans are often very comprehensive and because of this they can be expensive – you can find very good insurance plan that provides quality coverage at a lower cost, you just need to shop around!
The second scenario is coverage through your parents insurance plan. Although this may provide you with good insurance benefits while at school in the USA, most plans will ONLY provide a medical insurance benefit and most of the time this is a low benefit of just $50,000. Plus, these plans will not provide any evacuation, repatriation or travel benefits which you will need when studying abroad.
The third scenario is that you do not have any coverage through your school or parents and so will need to do all your research to get the best insurance plan. The International Student Insurance Study Abroad insurance pages provide you with detailed information about the plans available to students studying abroad so please take time to learn more about the options available and hopefully you will find a plan that fits your needs:
Please view our Study Abroad Insurance plans online.
HOT TIP – When looking for a study abroad insurance plan you will want to make sure you plan provides you worldwide coverage (so you can travel around – great if you are based in Europe) and some home country coverage so you can can home during the holidays or to visit.
2007 Student Insurance Plans
January 4th, 2007 by International-Student-InsuranceThe new school year in 2007 is right upon us, and what better time to make sure you have one of the best student health insurance plans around with the Student Secure Health Insurance plan. This plan is affordable, and will meet most schools requirements for student health insurance – and whats even better is that we offer a convenient online application service that allows you to purchase and get confirmation in as little as 10 minutes!
The Student Secure plan provides coverage such as:
– up to $300,000 policy maximum
– 100% coverage within the PPO under the Select Plan
– Maternity and Mental Health Coverage
– Prescription Drug Coverage
– Sports Coverage
– and so much more!
Please take a look at the plan at:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/student_secure_international/
or if you need to find out if your school will accept our plan, do not hesitate to contac our customer support team:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/contact/
Live Chat to us now!
December 19th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceAs we strive to improve our customer service to our clients, we have introduced Live Chat on InternationalStudentInsurance.com. Live Chat enables our clients to “chat” in an instant message style (similar to popular programs like ICQ, MSN, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger) directly with our customer service agents around the world. There is nothing to download on the users part, all you need to do is visit our website and click on the Live Chat logo on any of the pages. A window will pop-up and you enter in your question and within 20 seconds you will be connected.
This new solution allows clients from all around the world to contact us quickly and easily! Our Live Chat center will be open the following hours:
3am – 6pm, New York Time
9am – 12am, Berlin Time
5pm – 8am, Tokyo Time
Schengen Visa Insurance
December 15th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceIn June of 1985, seven European Union countries signed a treaty to make it easier for people to visit their countries and travel between them. Known as the “Schengen Treaty”, obtaining its name from a small town in Luxembourg, the original 7 member countries have now grown to 15 and they include:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
For international students around the world this Schengen Treaty makes it much easier to travel to and within these countries, as there is one simplified system and no need to apply to multiple countries. Part of the treaty is that all those who apply for a visa must show proof of adequate health insurance – and this must be:
– The insurance company must have a representative office in Europe
– Medical evacuation/ repatriation coverage of at least US $37,500
– Insurance must be valid for the duration of stay in the Schengen countries
At InternationalStudentInsurance.com we provide Schengen Visa Insurance to applicants from all around the world and and plans that fit these requirements are:
Student Secure – Monthly health insurance just for students
Atlas International – Travel/ Medical insurance for everyone
Please see the plans above for more information about Schengen Visa insurance and for background information the Schengen Visa please see https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/
What type of plan is right for me?
December 7th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceChoosing the right international student insurance plan can be a daunting task, with deductibles here and benefits there, it can be hard to understand what you need and what things to look out for! To help you with this, this article is designed to help you decide what type of plan is right for you.
To answer this question effectively you need to ask yourself “What benefits do I really need? What is important?”
For most students who are traveling abroad you are doing this for one of two reasons, either to simply travel and take in the world or to study, or maybe you will be doing a bit of both. Depending on why you are traveling you should then look at the benefits that you will need for that travel:
Students Studying Abroad
It does not matter if you are an international students studying in the USA, or a US Student studying around the world, when you are student studying for months (maybe years) at a time in a foreign country you want to make sure you have a good health insurance plan that provides solid health insurance benefits whilst you are away from your home country. You want to be looking for benefits such high medical maximums, mental health coverage, pre-existing condition coverage, sports coverage and prescription medication to name a few core benefits. Generally these plans are referred to as international student health insurance plans.
Plan Recommendations:
Student Secure for Non-US Citizens
Student Secure for US Citizens
Students traveling abroad for fun/ recreation
Whether you are traveling for a summer, or for a few weeks the main benefits you should be looking are medical and travel benefits. You want to make sure you have adequate medical coverage but also travel benefits such as baggage, evacuation, 24 hour travel assistance and much more should be an integral part of any plan you purchase. You might also want to consider purchasing some trip cancellation insurance to cover any cancellations that might arise on your trip. We call these plans international student travel/ medical plans as they incorporate medical benefits and travel benefits into one plan.
Plan recomondations:
Atlas America – Travel to the USA
Atlas International – Travel to the rest of the world
Trip Cancellation Insurance
We then have the students that will be doing a bit of both, that is traveling and also studying at the same time and this could be a large majority of you. In this case you want to look out for what benefits you think will suit you most. Most people should place their emphasis on health insurance benefits and make sure that your health will be taken care of and covered in the event of the unexpected, however the travel plans listed above will do that but with slightly more emphasis on the travel benefits.
Other resources which may help you with your insurance decision are:
Choosing International Insurance
Health Insurance for International Students
Student Insurance Terms Explained
Insurance Terms Explained
November 23rd, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceShopping around for insurance can be very hard at the best of times, even when you do speak the language it can be hard to fully understand what something means. So, when you are an international student and need to purchase insurance, it can be even harder to understand what everything means when English is not your first language.
So, at International Student Insurance, we have decided to write a comprehensive guide to insurance terms and words so that you know what they mean…..
1 – Premium
The Premium is the price you will need to pay in order to be insured. So if you find out that the cost per month is $45 for example, then this is your premium and what you will need to pay in order to be insured under the plan
2 – Deductible
A deductible is a payment that you, as the insured, will need to make before the plan will start to pay for your insurance needs. There are two main types of deductible, a one time deductible and a per injury or illness deductible. To give you an example of how it will work, if you had a $100 one time deductible and you went to the doctors for the first time – you would need to pay the first $100 and then you will be covered as per your policy (you would not have to pay your deductible again, you pay it only once). Likewise, if you had a $100 per injury or illness deductible, this $100 would need to be paid for each specific injury or illness you had, and then the insurance would pay anything above and beyond this.
In the UK and parts of Europe this is also known as an excess.
3 – Coinsurance
Some plans may have what is called “coinsurance” which is a percentage that you will have to pay. For example a plan may have 80/20 coinsurance which means the plan will pay 80% of your medical expenses and then you would need to pay the remaining 20%. Some plans will however have a coinsurance set at 100% which means the insurance will pay 100% of your medical expenses.
4 – Network/ PPO
The network, or PPO (Preferred Provider Network) as it is sometimes known, is the network of doctors that you can go to under the insurance plan. Most policies will refer to this as “in network” and “out of network”.
5 – URC (Usual, Reasonable and Customary)
This is the amount the insurer will pay for a procedure or operation. To give you an example the insurer will not pay $5,000 for an operation that only normally costs $2,000.
6 – Certificate Period
This is the time you are insured under the plan, so if you have purchased a plan for 6 months your certificate period will be this 6 months
Please also be sure to visit our insurance resources pages at:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/resources/
OPT Health Insurance
November 20th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceI have heard many questions from students and recent graduates concerning OPT (Optional Practical Training) health insurance. Some of these questions have been: Do I really need health insurance since I’m not in school anymore? My school has a policy for those on OPT but it is very costly, is there any other plan I can get? I may only need insurance for a few months before I get a job, what do I do in this situation?
These are all very common concerns regarding health insurance for international students on OPT. Health insurance can be quite costly, especially for students and recent graduates. However, health insurance is absolutely essential in the US. Healthcare is very expensive, and there is no government-sponsored insurance or healthcare available to you.
At many schools, once you are on OPT you are no longer eligible for the school insurance plan. For those schools that do offer an OPT insurance plan for their F1 students, prices are often exorbitant. I have seen school plans range anywhere from $90 all the way up to $230 a month. You know as well as I do that this is a large sum of money for a recent graduate to pay each month. Don’t be discouraged because there are plans that are affordable and comprehensive, and you don’t need to purchase your school plan.
One such plan that works well for students on OPT is the Atlas America plan. This plan is available here: http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/atlas_america/. This comprehensive and affordable plan covers just about any injury or illness you may have, and includes coverage for doctor visits, hospital room and board, ambulance costs, prescription drugs and physical therapy. Prices start as low as $38 per month.
An option you may want to consider is group coverage under the Atlas America plan. You must have at least 5 people under the plan (the people under this plan do not have to be related, they can be friends, however they must all be under the same plan with the same deductible, maximum coverage limit, etc.). This way you qualify for a group discount so this will lessen your payment each month.
Many international students that are on OPT are waiting to be hired or enter graduate school. So, a common concern is that you will have to purchase health insurance for a 12 month period. This is not the case. If you are going on OPT you can purchase insurance for as little as 5 days to 12 months of coverage. For instance, upon graduation you could purchase health insurance for three months. Then after three months, if you still don’t have employer-sponsored health insurance, you can extend your existing plan. That way you’ll never be in the predicament where you have two plans, one with employer-sponsored and one you purchased yourself.
For more information on the Atlas America plan, click here:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/atlas_america/
For more information on OPT rules, visit this post in the InternationalFinancialAidBlog:
Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F1 Students in the US (October 18, 2006 weekly issue)
Subscription
November 20th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceKeep up to date with our blog and read it in your favorite reader by click on the feed button on the right, or by email:
New Insurance Blog
November 20th, 2006 by International-Student-InsuranceAs part of our ongoing effort to supply our new and existing customers with information and news about their insurance plans, International Student Insurance has started an insurance blog. The blog will be kept up-to-date with industry news, customer information, plan changes, and much more so it will be a very useful tool for our current client base as well as those that are looking for insurance.
Please make sure to bookmark the blog at:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/blog/
You are also encouraged to use the blog as a ground to ask questions about anything, if you need more information post a comment and we will get back to you straight away!
We hope you enjoy!
InternationalStudentInsurance.com
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