Making sure you have the right international health and travel insurance plan in place is not always the top priority for students planning to study abroad. Most students do not believe they will require coverage, or you may wait until the last minute and not have time to compare all of the plans to find the best option. The InternationalStudent.com Study Abroad Center is here to assist you by doing the research for you – and we have located a variety of plans that are ideal for students studying abroad and provide the highest quality coverage at the best price.
Monthly Student Health Insurance
The Student Secure plan is a monthly international student health insurance plan designed for students who are studying abroad outside of the United States. The plan includes numerous benefits such as hospitalization coverage, prescription medication, doctor visits, mental health coverage, maternity coverage, sports coverage, evacuation, and much more. You can buy the plan in monthly increments, pay monthly, and renew it if you need more coverage. It provides students with the greatest amount of flexibility.
Student Travel Health Insurance
The Atlas International plan is ideal for students who want more travel-related benefits but don’t need the flexibility of the student secure plan to pay monthly and don’t need benefits like mental health, maternity, and so on. You can buy the plan for 5 days to a year, and you can renew it if you buy at least 3 months at the start. The plan covers hospitalization, doctor visits, prescription medication, evacuation, repatriation, trip interruption, lost luggage, and a variety of other expenses.
Study Abroad Insurance Tips
When looking for study abroad insurance, you will know that there are many plans available – here are a few tips to help you look for the right insurance plan:
- All insurance carriers are rated by either AM Best or Standard and Poors – some countries will require your insurance plan be rated above a certain level so be sure to check this out.
- Make sure you read the exclusions – all plans will have exclusions, some will be more stringent than others, so be sure to check them out and make sure you understand what is not covered under the plan.
- Does the plan participate in a network – some plans have a PPO network which is a network of doctors/ hospitals, and they will require you to visit these providers, and other plans will not restrict you to any provider in particular so you will need to check that out.
- 24 hour assistance – most plans will offer you 24 hour assistance service, which is standard on all plan, but make sure you can easily call them from the country you are located in.
- How claims are paid – nearly all insurance plans will work on a pay up front, claim back later procedure, but make sure you are aware of how long a claim will take to be processed, it should really be no more than 2 weeks.
