Before applying to and enrolling at a U.S. university, prospective international students may want to start thinking about medical insurance. Many U.S. universities require students enrolled at their school, including international students, to have health insurance.
Health insurance policies and costs can vary from campus to campus, and some institutions offer their own plans that students must enroll in. Here are things prospective international students should know when determining whether they need health insurance in the U.S.
[Read: 3 Steps International Students Should Take Before Applying to U.S. Colleges.]
Requirements may depend on the visa category. The U.S. Department of State requires exchange visitors on a J-1 visa and their dependents on a J-2 visa to be covered by medical insurance for the length of their program. But the State Department has no specific insurance requirements for international students and their dependents on an F visa.
“F-1 visa holders do not have to meet government-mandated standards, so some colleges, like those in the City University of New York CUNY system, do not mandate health insurance for F-1 students,” says Mandee Heller Adler, president and CEO of International College Counselors in Florida.
But even if a college does not require medical insurance, Adler says all students in the U.S. should have it. “Health care is extremely expensive in the U.S. and unforeseen events may result in long-term financial hardship,” she says.
Experts say students should contact universities about their specific policies, which can vary widely.
Despite not requiring it, CUNY, for example, does highly recommend F-1 international students and their dependents purchase international student health insurance, according to the school’s website.
Other schools require all international students to purchase health insurance. The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System, for instance, requires all international students holding F-1, F-2, J-1 or J-2 nonimmigrant visas to have approved health insurance while enrolled at any institution in the system.
Similarly, “at UCR, the coverage is the same for all students regardless of visa type,” says Kelly Eldridge Hinosawa, associate director of the International Students and Scholars Office at the University of California–Riverside. That means the health insurance requirements are the same for J and F visa holders, adds Magid Shirzadegan, director of the office.
Hinosawa says it’s important for prospective international students to have an idea of how the health care system works in the U.S. since it can be very different from what they experience in their home country, particularly for those who come from a country with universal health care.
“A student from Japan, for example, may be used to walking into any nearby hospital to get covered treatment anytime it’s needed. In the United States, however, we have to think about where we can go to get treatment based on our insurance coverage,” Hinosawa says.
[Read: 4 Surprises for International Students About Health Care.]
Some schools have their own health insurance plans. When researching U.S. universities, international applicants may find that many require a mandatory school-sponsored group insurance plan, with or without the option to waive coverage if students can prove they already have coverage elsewhere. Universities that don’t offer a school-sponsored insurance plan require international students to select their own coverage.
“All international students are provided a student insurance plan through UnitedHealthcare,” says Jim Deleppo, university director of the Office of International Student Services at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
Deleppo says international students applying to FDU who have insurance plans through a foreign government sponsorship and those who are in other nonimmigrant visa categories who have U.S. employment-based insurance can apply for insurance waivers. He says waivers are offered if a student’s existing coverage meets or exceeds the school’s coverage.
“All international students have approximately six weeks into the semester to enroll themselves in the plan or request the waiver. If they do not enroll they will be automatically enrolled after six weeks. The insurance plan is provided each year for the student to re-enroll,” Deleppo says.
At the University of California–Berkeley, all international students are required to have health insurance coverage while registered at the institution and will automatically be enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan, or SHIP, and charged a health insurance fee. The plan, which provides medical, counseling, prescription, vision and dental services, costs $1,497 per semester for undergraduates in 2018-2019 and $2,373 per semester for graduate students, per the school website.
[Read: 3 Hidden Costs for International Students at U.S. Colleges.]
Similarly, Margaret Fitzgerald, interim director of the health center at Bentley University in Massachusetts, says the school automatically enrolls all international students in the student health insurance plan offered through the university.
Fitzgerald says Massachusetts law requires schools make sure all students enrolled at least three-quarter time — 6.75 credits for graduate programs and nine credits for undergraduate programs — have health insurance coverage from a qualified U.S. domestic insurance program headquartered in the U.S.
“We do not accept insurance policies from other countries or policies purchased from a third party,” Fitzgerald says. International students generally aren’t allowed to waive out of the plan even if they have purchased their own medical insurance, unless they are an embassy-sponsored student or are covered by a Massachusetts-based employer, according the school’s website.
At the University of South Carolina, international students are automatically enrolled in the school’s Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plan, but they have the option to buy their own health insurance, according to the school’s website. Students waiving USC’s insurance must fill out a waiver every fall and spring semester.
At most U.S. universities, health insurance specialists are usually available to advise students about their options. Deleppo says part of his office’s responsibility is to explain to international students how medicine and health care works in the U.S. “For new international students, health insurance can be complicated and proper education is important,” he says.
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What International Students Should Know About Health Insurance in the U.S. originally appeared on usnews.com
