Travel Insurance for Spring Break
March 12th, 2007 by International-Student-InsuranceI remember spring break quite well. This is the most coveted week of the school year for students in the U.S. Many students look forward to this week of relaxation for weeks and with great anticipation. I know I couldn’t wait to go abroad on the trip I carefully planned out. I knew it was going to be the best week of my college experience. After studying every night for mid-terms, writing papers, completing research projects and working part-time I felt like I deserved this mini vacation. The only thing I didn’t think about was getting insurance for myself while I was abroad. Granted I knew I was still under my parents domestic insurance plan, however, you never know if domestic insurance plans will extend overseas and this is something you don’t want to leave up to chance.
So, before you go overseas I would highly recommend getting an insurance plan that will cover you outside of the U.S. There are so many cases where I’ve spoken to people who’ve had an injury or illness that they’ve gotten overseas and their domestic insurance plan only covers extreme cases. At that point, you don’t really have any other option except to pay the bill yourself. But, the lesson they learned the hard way is to have travel insurance. And although, medical expenses are cheaper abroad it still may be an expensive bill, especially for students. Wouldn’t you want to spend your hard-earned money on something other than medical costs?
If you are looking for a plan, then I would recommend the Atlas International plan. This plan is quite inexpensive and it provides excellent coverage. You could choose a $0 deductible plan with maximum coverage ranging anywhere from $50,000 to $1,000,000. Your cost for a 7 day trip would range anywhere from $8.75 to $13.13. This plan also offers great benefits, such as, BagTrak, Lost passport or travel documents assistance, emergency cash transfers, livetravel services, emergency medical evacuation, and so much more. So, even if you don’t end up using the plan at least you’re provided with a sense of security and reassurance that you are covered while you are abroad.
The U.S. Department of State provides more information on requirements for travelers, travel tips for students, tips for women traveling alone, etc. Another great site full of discount student travel information is found through InternationalStudent.com. It gives you great information for vacation planning, things to do before you leave, hostel/hotel room search, cheap airfare, etc.
J1 Visa Insurance Requirements
February 27th, 2007 by International-Student-Insurance
J1 Visa Insurance Requirements
If you are a J1 visa holder, or if you are applying for a J1 visa, you must have an insurance plan that will meet certain visa requirements. This post will identify the J1 visa requirements, guide you to insurance plans that meet those requirements, and hopefully save you some time and money.
The insurance requirements for J1 visas are very specific. If you purchase insurance that does not meet these requirements you may waste a lot of time and money. At best, it could delay your visa application process, and in the worst case, you could have your visa application denied. Therefore it pays to know the requirements and to make sure the plan you purchase meets all of them.
The insurance requirements for a J1 visa are 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
Please note: As of May 15th 2015, the J1 Visa Insurance Requirements will be increasing, please see our post about the changes for more information.
All international health insurance plans offered on InternationalStudentInsurance.com meet all J1 visa requirements. In particular, our Student Health and Travel Medical plans meet J1 requirements, and both plans are inexpensive and widely used by J1 visa holders. You can also visit our dedicated J1 Visa hub for more information at:
http://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/j1student/
If you are looking for information regarding visa requirements or have any questions in this general area these two sites have a wealth of information pertaining to visa requirements and the application process: InternationalStudent.com and the U.S. Department of State.
New Database for College Insurance Requirements!
February 20th, 2007 by International-Student-InsuranceApplying to become an international student and studying outside of your home country can be a daunting task at times. So, many things are going through your mind and you must remember to have certain forms properly filled out, meet deadlines, find enough money to fund your education and then travel thousands of miles to a school that you may have only visited once. If you find yourself in this predicament, you may want to visit InternationalStudent.com to help you learn more about the USA. This site has a very helpful Study USA Advice Center.
So, then your school tells you that you must have health insurance either through their provider or an alternate provider which you must find on your own means. You learn though that the alternate insurance plan must meet certain requirements. These requirements are usually extensive and can be quite confusing. At this point, you may just want to throw up your hands and pay the school’s insurance fee. However, it may well be worth the time and effort locating a new plan. In a lot of cases, the school’s insurance plan can cost you double what alternate plans may cost. So, to make your life a little bit easier, we’ve added a school insurance requirements database to our website.
This feature will allow you to look up your school by state and identify whether or not our Student Secure Health Insurance plan will meet your school’s requirements. Instead of searching for hours for an inexpensive and acceptable plan on the internet, you will now have the tool to know right away. Through our extensive research, we have identified which level of our plan meets your school’s requirements. Inevitably, this will save you time and money and the guesswork will be minimized.
If you do decide to waive your school’s insurance policy, then you’ll want to check with your school and see if you need to complete a compliance form. Once you sign and complete this form, we can fax it to your school. Also, once you apply for the plan, you will receive all of your insurance documents via e-mail if you opt for online fulfillment. This e-mail will be sent to you right away and will contain your insurance card, letter of coverage, explanation of benefits and receipt.
We will be updating this list on a continuous basis. If you do not find your school on the list and still have questions in regards to your school’s requirements then please do not hesitate to contact us.
School Insurance Requirements
January 29th, 2007 by International-Student-InsuranceAs an international student in the USA or anywhere else in the world you are required by either your school or the government of the country you are studying in to meet certain insurance requirements. For most of you, this is not an easy task to try and work out if an insurance plan will meet these requirements so this posting is designed to help you work out the requirements and what plans will fit in with those requirements.
Firstly, you need to check the requirements of the country you are studying in. The US State Department has certain criteria for students coming into the USA, for example the J1 Visa has insurance requirements and for students coming into Europe, the Schengen Visa has certain insurance requirements. The good news is that all the plans offered on International Student Insurance meet and exceed these requirements, so students can purchase any student insurance plan they need.
Secondly, the school you are attending may also require you to meet certain requirements. These requirements are generally a little stricter than the country requirements and can vary greatly from school to school, so it can be difficult to work out if plans meets certain requirements. To help we have created a database of schools around the USA and listed them and indicated whether our plans meet their requirements – you can visit this at:
School Insurance Requirements for the USA – Listed by School and State
If your school is not listed however this is not to say our plans do not meet the requirements but simply that we have not had the time yet to list all schools, so you should check out our Student Secure Student Health Insurance which will most likely meet all the requirements.
Student Secure Highlights:
– PPO Network – Not restricted to any network, but can go to the Hygeia Network
– Deductible – $100 (reduced to $50 at Student Health Center
– Major Medical Benefits – $300,000 (Select Plan) and $250,000 (Budget Plan)
– Pre-Existing Conditions – Excluded for the first 12 months, full coverage after that
– InPatient Mental Health – $10,000
– OutPatient Mental Health – $50 per day, $500 Maximum
– Maternity – $300,000 (Select Plan) and $250,000 (Budget Plan)
– InPatient Prescription Medication – 100%
– OutPatient Prescription Medication – 50%
– Medical Evacuation – $300,000 (Select Plan) and $250,000 (Budget Plan)
– Repatriation – $25,000 (Select Plan) and $15,000 (Budget Plan)
– Sports Coverage – $5,000
You can view the Student Secure Insurance plan here.
We are very happy to assist students in anyway, so if you have an insurance requirement form from your school and you want us to check it to make sure our plans meet them please email us with the form and we will be happy to check it and let you know what plans are available to you.
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/
