International Student Health Insurance
What Is
International Student Health Insurance?
Whether you’re just starting to nail down your living arrangements or you’ve already begun packing your bags, it probably seems like there are thousands of items on your study abroad to-do list.
One item that should not be overlooked is international student health insurance.
International student health insurance is medical coverage designed to meet the needs of students studying abroad. Not only can insurance be an important part of the student visa application process, but it can also help reduce out-of-pocket costs for unforeseen medical expenses.
Topics Covered on This Page:
- What is international student health insurance?
- Why do I need international student health insurance?
- What does health insurance for international students cover?
- How do StudentSecure benefits work in action?
- Why choose StudentSecure insurance?
Why Do I Need
International Student Health Insurance?
There are several reasons to consider an international student health insurance plan like StudentSecure for your study abroad experience:
1. You may need insurance to meet visa requirements. Most countries require international students to possess a valid student visa. Some visas require proof of insurance that meets specific requirements. StudentSecure meets the insurance requirements of most visas, including the J-1 visa. As a policyholder, you’ll have access to a visa letter you can use as proof of coverage.
2. You may need insurance to meet your study abroad program or school requirements. Your program or university may require you to have student health insurance that meets requirements. Some programs and schools provide their own insurance plans, but many allow students to purchase alternate coverage that meets requirements. Upon purchase of a StudentSecure policy, we can provide a completed waiver form and visa letter to you and your program or school.
3. Your regular health insurance may not cover you outside of your home country. That’s why the U.S. Department of State of State recommends that you “ask your medical insurance company if your policy applies overseas – and if it covers emergency expenses such as medical evacuation.” If it doesn’t, international student health insurance can provide the international coverage you need.
4. There’s always a chance you could encounter a travel mishap, accident, or illness while studying abroad. International student health insurance like StudentSecure can cover eligible medical expenses such as hospital room and board, intensive care unit, local ambulance, sutures, surgery, and other treatment required to get your study abroad trip back on track.
Did You Know?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the following steps to prepare for a safe and healthy study abroad venture:
- Learn about your host country’s health and safety concerns using the destination tool
- Schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor and make sure you’re up to date on your vaccinations
- Consider international student health insurance that provides coverage for emergency healthcare and medical evacuation abroad
- Pack a travel health kit with your prescriptions, first aid supplies, and your travel health insurance ID card
- Monitor travel warnings and alerts for your destination
What Does Health Insurance for
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COVER?
An international student health insurance plan like StudentSecure can reduce your personal expenses if you face an unexpected injury or illness throughout the course of your international studies.
All four StudentSecure plans include multilingual travel assistance services and access to our Student Zone, where you can download your visa letter, renew your coverage as needed, and manage your policy online.
Some StudentSecure Highlights Include:
- Up to $5,000,000 of Overall Maximum Coverage
- Up to $500,000 for Emergency Medical Evacuation
- Coverage for recreational sports and activities
- Coverage for outpatient prescription drugs and mental health treatment
- Coverage for hospitalization, physician charges, X-rays, sutures, surgery, and more
Additional StudentSecure Insurance
Highlights
Emergency Medical Evacuation Benefit
Benefits for Unexpected Inpatient Medical Expenses: Local Ambulance, Hospital Room & Board, Intensive Care Unit, Mental Health Disorders
Benefits for Unexpected Outpatient Medical Expenses: Outpatient Treatment, Outpatient Prescription Drugs, Mental Health Disorders, Outpatient Physical Therapy & Chiropractic Care, Dental Treatment Due to Accident
Repatriation of Remains Benefit
How Do StudentSecure
Benefits Work In Action?
See examples of how an international student health insurance plan like StudentSecure can provide coverage for your study abroad trip.
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You grab lunch from a street vendor while on a weekend trip with your class. Unfortunately, your food isn’t
fully cooked, and you experience a serious bout of food poisoning that requires inpatient hospitalization.Medical emergencies are scary enough when you’re in your home country, let alone a foreign country where you may be unfamiliar with the healthcare system.
With an international student health insurance policy like StudentSecure, you’ll be covered for the cost of a local ambulance to transport you to the hospital for covered injuries or illnesses that result in hospitalization as well as hospital room and board.
You’ll also have coverage for all other eligible medical expenses, including physician charges, diagnostic testing, and more.
Additionally, StudentSecure plans provide access to provider referrals, translation services, and other travel assistance services. These services are available in multiple languages 365 days a year.
-
You’re playing a recreational game of basketball after class when you fall and break your leg.
All four StudentSecure plans include coverage for leisure, recreational, entertainment, and fitness-related sports and activities. If your injury does not stem from any policy exclusions, you’ll be covered for all eligible medical expenses related to your broken leg (up to your policy’s overall maximum limit).
These medical expenses might include charges for hospital room and board, nursing services, physician services, diagnostic testing, surgery, sutures, casts, and more.
NOTE: StudentSecure Elite, Select, and Budget offer an optional rider that provides additional coverage for medical expenses resulting from injuries or illnesses sustained while participating in intercollegiate, interscholastic, intramural, or club sports.
Be sure to review the StudentSecure Description of Coverage for conditions and exclusions related to sports and activities.
-
When you fall during your recreational basketball game, you also lose a tooth.
Thankfully, all four StudentSecure plans include a benefit for dental treatment due to accident. This benefit pays for emergency dental treatment and dental surgery necessary to restore or replace the sound natural teeth you lose or damage in a covered accident—up to $250 per tooth ($500 maximum per coverage period).
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A few months into your year abroad, you start experiencing horrible anxiety for the very first time. You
schedule a doctor’s appointment and your physician diagnoses you with generalized anxiety disorder. You
decide to seek treatment for your disorder.All four StudentSecure plans provide some coverage for treatment of mental health disorders and psychiatric illnesses listed in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association.
Under StudentSecure Elite, Select, and Budget, you’re covered for a maximum of 30 outpatient visits. If you seek inpatient treatment, you’re covered for a maximum of 30 days.
Under StudentSecure Smart, you’re covered for up to $50 per day ($500 maximum) for outpatient treatment. If you seek inpatient treatment, you’re covered for up to $5,000.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Mental health treatment provided at a student health center is not covered under any StudentSecure plan. Treatment resulting from drug or alcohol abuse is included only under StudentSecure Elite, Select, and Budget. There is no coverage for treatment resulting from drug or alcohol abuse under StudentSecure Smart.
It’s also important to note that coverage for *pre-existing mental health disorders is excluded:
- during the first 6 months of coverage under StudentSecure Elite and Select
- during the first 12 months of coverage under StudentSecure Budget
- throughout coverage under StudentSecure Smart
*A mental health disorder counts as pre-existing if it existed at the time of application or at any time during the 12 months prior to the effective date of this insurance, with reasonable medical certainty, whether or not previously manifested, symptomatic or known, diagnosed, treated, or disclosed to us prior to the effective date. This includes any and all subsequent, chronic or recurring complications or consequences related thereto or resulting or arising therefrom.
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A few weeks into your study abroad adventure, you come down with a serious infection that leads to sepsis.
Your condition is deemed life-threatening and you’re hospitalized for several weeks in a still largely
unfamiliar country.All four StudentSecure plans cover eligible medical expenses resulting from your hospitalization and medical treatment.
StudentSecure plans also include an Emergency Reunion benefit that covers roundtrip transportation, up to the benefit maximum, to bring one of your relatives to the area where you are hospitalized so they can be by your side.
This benefit also covers reasonable costs of lodging and meals for your relative for a period of up to 15 days.
The Emergency Reunion benefit applies for hospitalizations of 5 days or longer.
Why Choose
Student
Secure
Insurance?
Four Levels of Coverage
The StudentSecure Series offers four levels of coverage—Elite, Select, Budget, and Smart—so you can choose the coverage and cost that best fit your needs and budget. Overall maximum coverage ranges from $200,000 to $5,000,000, with maximums per injury or illness ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Deductibles range from $25 to $50.
All four plan levels meet or exceed most government and visa requirements, including J-1 visa requirements.
Flexible Payment Options
Choose a monthly payment option or get savings for paying your full premium in advance.
Ease-of-Use
Your policy documents will be sent to your email address immediately upon purchase. Log into Student Zone, your online policy management portal, to extend or renew your coverage as needed. Or visit our Find a Doctor page to find qualified medical providers in your host country.
Multilingual Travel Assistance
As a StudentSecure policyholder, you’ll have access to our multilingual travel assistance services 365 days a year. Emergency services are available 24/7. Travel assistance services include referrals, translation assistance, help replacing lost or stolen travel documents, medical monitoring, coordination of emergency travel arrangements, and more.
Are There Any
EXCLUSIONS TO KEEP IN MIND?
Certain types of expenses are excluded under StudentSecure insurance. Here are some of the more asked-about exclusions:
- *Pre-existing conditions are excluded during the first six (6) months of coverage under StudentSecure Elite and Select and during the first twelve (12) months of coverage under StudentSecure Budget. Pre-existing conditions are excluded throughout coverage under StudentSecure Smart, except charges resulting directly from an **Acute Onset of Pre-existing Condition, Emergency Medical Evacuation, or Repatriation of Remains.
- Immunizations and routine medical examinations, except under StudentSecure Elite as provided for under the Vaccination benefit
- Routine pre-natal care, pregnancy, childbirth, and post-natal care, unless directly related to a covered pregnancy
- Medical expenses for injury or illness resulting from participation in specifically excluded extreme sports
For a full list of exclusions, be sure to review the StudentSecure Description of Coverage.
*Pre-existing condition means any injury, illness, sickness, disease, or other physical, medical, mental, or nervous disorder, condition, or ailment that, with reasonable medical certainty, existed at the time of application or at any time during the 2 years prior to the effective date of this insurance, whether or not previously manifested, symptomatic or known, diagnosed, treated, or disclosed to us prior to the effective date, and including any and all subsequent, chronic or recurring complications or consequences related thereto or resulting or arising therefrom.
**The acute onset of a pre-existing condition is a sudden and unexpected outbreak or recurrence that is of short duration, is rapidly progressive, and requires urgent care. A pre-existing condition that is a chronic or congenital, or that gradually becomes worse over time, is not acute onset of a pre-existing condition.
The Acute Onset of Pre-existing Condition benefit will only apply if all of the following conditions are met:
a) The Acute onset of a Pre-Existing Condition does not directly or indirectly relate to a chronic condition or congenital condition;
b) Treatment must be obtained within twenty-four (24) hours of the sudden and unexpected outbreak or reoccurrence;
c) You must be under eighty (80) years of age;
d) You must not be traveling against or in disregard of the recommendations, established treatment programs, or medical advice of a physician or other healthcare provider;
e) You must not be traveling with the intent or purpose to seek or obtain treatment for the pre-existing condition;
f) You must be traveling outside your home country
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WorldTrips international travel medical insurance products are underwritten by Lloyd's. WorldTrips is a service company and a member of the Tokio Marine HCC group of companies. WorldTrips has authority to enter into contracts of insurance on behalf of the Lloyd's underwriting members of Lloyd's Syndicate 4141, which is managed by HCC Underwriting Agency, Ltd.