Choosing 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
