How to Choose The Best Insurance Plan

Students going to International destinations for study purposes should consider taking an insurance plan even if it is not mandated by the destination Country or University. There are a variety of Insurance plans that a student can take depending upon variousfactors. Based on these factors students can choose from the following type of Insurance plans: –

• International Student Travel Insurance
• International Student Health Insurance
• Dental and Vision Insurance
• Overseas Medical and Travel Insurance

These types of plans are generally offered by Indian as well as International or country-specific Insurance companies. As there are a lot of options for international students to choose from, they should be very clear, about which Insurance plan they should enroll themselves.

Factors to decide upon the best suited Insurance plan

Due to the presence of many options to choose from, students should consider choosing insurance plans on the basis of the following factors: –

Destination Country’s Insurance laws

Different countries have different rules and laws for International Student Insurance. Some countries may require a foreign student to get a comprehensive health plus travel plan. Some may require them to buy only travel insurance or dental and vision insurance along with that. Some countries make Insurance as part of the study visa requirements and some countries require students to take Insurance before their arrival. For example, students going to Germany have to enroll themselves in 3 months of travel insurance as part of the Visa application requirement.

Destination University’s Insurance requirements

  University of some countries require international health insurance for students either from the University itself or from any external provider that fulfils University’srequirements. For example, Universities in the U.S. require each of the International students to enroll themselves into Health Insurance. Non-fulfillment of this requirement might cause a student to sit for classes. Almost all Universities offer sponsored Insurance as part of the admission policy. So, students either can opt for the university Insurance or they can opt for a plan from an external Insurance provider that fulfills some criteria laid down by the University. Students have to opt for the external insurance plan and notify the University to waive the University-sponsored Insurance through a process of waiver application which has to be done before a certain deadline. Failing the same would result in automatic enrolment of the student in the sponsored insurance plan.

Some of the standard University insurance waiver requirements are: –

i. Plan with a certain maximum coverage which ranges from $50,000 to unlimited maximum benefit. The plan should be ACA compliant which implies certain inclusions such as: Preventive care, certain limits for Out-of-pocket maximum, and  Unlimited coverage among others. iii. The plan should include particular coverage such as Pre-existing, Maternity, substance abuse, Medical evacuation, Repatriation of remains, etc.iv. Plan should not be a travel plan or a reimbursable type of plans. The plan should cover the students in the local city area surrounding the University campus

Student personal medical or travel requirements

Although students have to take insurance according to the destination country’s or university’s requirements, they must fulfill their requirements as well. So, it is whether the insurance plan they are taking according to the country and university requirements, is fulfilling their personal medical or travel requirements. However, in cases when their current insurance plan is not fulfilling their personal requirements they might have to look for additional insurance plans.

Following are some of the student’s personal medical or travel requirements:

• Dental and Vision coverage
• Pre-existing coverage
• Sponsor protection coverage
• Maternity coverage for females
• Drug abuse coverage
• Preventive care coverage