International Health Insurance for Students

When you travel abroad, consider buying an international health insurance policy, often called a travel insurance policy. Travel insurance is secondary--it supplements your primary insurance--and covers many things that your regular insurance does not. Most student travel programs and companies offer international insurance to students at a discount, and proof of a policy is required by virtually all study abroad programs.

Policies

• International health insurance policies or travel insurance policies are almost always secondary policies. This means that you will first have to submit a claim to your primary insurance and then submit a claim to your travel insurance. Depending on the policy, you can buy coverage by the month or for a full year.

Reasons

• If you are enrolled in a study abroad program through your university or through a private exchange organization, the program will most likely require you to get a travel insurance policy or provide one for you. If you have a choice, first find out if your regular insurance covers you outside of the U.S., as many do not. Consider that international health insurance is considerably cheaper than insurance policies in the U.S., and provides extra benefits that most normal insurance policies exclude.

Benefits

• Most international policies not only cover doctor's visits and hospital stays, but also medical evacuation to a functional hospital or even to the U.S., which can cost tens of thousands of dollars and is rarely covered by normal insurance policies. Most international policies also cover evacuation in the case of natural or social disasters, and repatriation of remains (shipping your body back to the U.S. if you die), which is another expensive service that very few regular policies cover.

Finding a Policy

• There are many different travel insurance policies and international health insurance policies available. If you are going with a study abroad program, ask which policy they recommend. If you are traveling independently, you may be able to get insurance through your travel agent (agencies targeting students almost always sell insurance as well) or an add-on policy through your primary insurance. Also consider what protections you want, as some international insurance will also offer trip cancellation insurance or theft insurance.