As an international student on a F1 visa you are not required by the federal government to obtain health insurance. However, many schools have certain insurance requirements in place that you as an international student will need to abide by. One popular benefit that schools request students to include in their international insurance plan is pre-existing condition coverage after only a 6 month waiting period.
A pre-existing condition is any illness or injury that displayed symptoms, or that you were treated for, prior to your plan’s effective date. Some insurance plans will exclude these conditions from being covered or require that the student has been on the plan for a certain time period before coverage for those conditions is included.
When a school requires you to find an insurance plan that has pre-existing coverage after a 6 month waiting period, this means that after you have been on a plan for 6 months it needs to cover you for conditions that you had prior to having the plan.
If your school requires that you find an insurance plan that has 6 month pre-existing condition coverage, one plan option is the Student Secure 6 month pre-existing condition plan.
This plan has all of the great benefits of the Student Secure plan like hospitalization, doctor visits, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. However, you will only have to wait 6 months to have pre-existing conditions covered!
If you are researching international student insurance options that include 6 month pre-existing condition coverage, check out the Student Secure 6 month pre-existing plan. If your school has multiple benefits that you need to meet to waive out of a school plan or to show that you have adequate coverage, contact one of our licensed agents today to find a plan that will include what you need – including 6 month pre-existing condition coverage.
Ankle of male athlete being wrapped photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Category: International Student Health Insurance, International Students in the USA, Student Insurance
Tags: 6 month pre-existing condition coverage, international student insurance, school waiver requirements
I am an EU citizen diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I moving to DC for 4 months with J1-visa. Which medical insurance do you suggest?
Hello Myrtle,
Thanks for your message. The typical waiting period for a pre-existing condition in our plans is 6 months, therefore, we would not have a plan that can cover a pre-existing condition immediately for 4 months, unfortunately.
We offer a long term plan that is medically underwritten and could cover a pre-existing condition if fully disclosed at the moment of the application and it is approved by the underwriters, called the Global Medical.
To read more about the Global Medical, click here.. Keep in mind, however, that the plan needs to be purchased for at least 1 year and you need the levels Silver, Gold or Platinum and a deductible no higher than $500.
Best of luck!