International Student medical insurance options

Compare and buy student insurance

Enter Age & Citizenship
Destination
Start date
End date

International student insurance

International student medical insurance

It's that time of year again when colleges and schools are gearing back up for a new year. Here at American Visitor Insurance, we've helped thousands of international students secure the international student insurance they need to study in the US and abroad! Here's a little buying guide to help you choose an economical plan that will meet your institution's requirements.

Firstly, if your institution simply wants you to have some health insurance, then you are free to purchase any plan (whether for student or visitor) that we offer. Student plans are specifically for students or exchange scholars only. Your eligibility is tied to the visa you are using for entry into the country. For international students in the US, they can be on F1 visas or J1 visas.

Technically, most policies for students require the F1 or J1 person to be the primary insured (the first one on the policy, whether male or female) and F2 and J2 dependents can be added as a spouse or child defendants to that policy. However, a select few policies allow a J2 visa or F2 visa holder to purchase them as the primary insured.

So, for students with no specific requirements (besides possibly maximum and/or deductible) you can choose from any visitor or student plan we offer. I would personally suggest a comprehensive policy with a maximum of at least $100K (which is specifically required for the J1/J2 visas).

If, on the other hand, you have a laundry list of requirements from your institution, here are some that meet a more demanding list. Institution requirements that are difficult to meet:

  1. Unlimited maximum -- Most student policies have fairly generous maximums ($200K to $M at least), but that is not enough for some institutions. The only one we offer with an unlimited maximum is GeoBlue Navigator for Students. A couple others that may work have an unlimited lifetime maximum (check the wording on your requirement).
  2. Coverage for maternity/pregnancy -- For this type of coverage you must choose a student plan. The next best plans cover 80% in network (70 or 60% out of network) and they are Student Secure Elite, Student Secure Select, Student Health Advantage Platinum. There are a few others with more limited coverage.
  3. Coverage for mental health: 75% cover with GeoBlue Navigator for Students, Student Secure Elite or Student Secure Select.
  4. Coverage for alcohol/drug abuse: 75% with GeoBlue Navigator for Students, $3K with Student Secure Budget, Student Secure Elite, Student Secure Select, Student Health Advantage, Student Health Advantage Platinum plans (all).
  5. Coverage for athletic teams and sports and athletics: GEOBlue Navigator for Student (no scuba), Student Secure Select or Elite, or Student Health Advantage or Platinum (any).
  6. Coverage for High School athletics: URC with Patriot Exchange with Add-on Plan.
  7. Coverage for pre-existing conditions with no waiting period.
  8. Coverage for pre-existing conditions with a 6 month waiting period:
  9. Coverage for wellness and preventative medicine: GEOBlue Navigator for Student, one routine physical exam per year with any Study USA plans.

Students and scholars should be aware that several policies charge significantly more for a dependent on the policy or don't allow coverage for dependents. Policies that do allow dependents and only charge the same amount for dependents are: Patriot Exchange Standard.

Also, if you are told that you have to meet Affordable Care Act (ACA) student insurance requirements, then as far as we can tell, you will be forced to purchase the institution's offered insurance since no short term visitor and student plans are not ACA compliant.

If your institution requires a signed waiver to be submitted on your behalf (signed from the insurance company), you will have to purchase the insurance and then send the form to the correct email address for the insurance company. We can help you get the right email address if you do not know where it should be sent. You will have to fill out your portion (if necessary) and include the certificate number of the policy as well as the email address where it needs to go.

Note also that all the International student health insurance plans must be purchased for entire months. If you purchase it for one month and one day, you will pay for two months, so you may as well purchase the full month in case your plans change and you stay in the US a little longer than expected.

Please let us help you if you can't understand or are not sure if a policy will meet your requirements, please contact us. It is helpful if you can link the requirements or include the PDF file with them so we can look them over for you. We are happy to help you figure out the best option for you!

American Visitor Insurance wishes you a great new year filled with learning and improvement! Good luck!

Testimonials - From Our Customers

Thank you for your prompt reply. Thank you for doing some good homework on our behalf. May the Lord richly bless you and all your encounters and may He fill your life with all of his abundance.

Ron W

I needed to move my policy date, but remembered it too late. American Visitor Insurance customer support made a lot of efforts to fix it out and succeeded. It's a really good service. Great thanks to your support staff.

Konstantin V.B

Thank you for such helpful information. You've impressed me as I have contacted other companies and haven't gotten half of the information from them that you have sent me. I will take what you've said into consideration.

Amanda

International Student Health Insurance Coverage highlights

Previous Next
USA students study overseas insurance plans

International student medical insurance plans for students studying abroad.

Click here to read more »

Best insurance for international students

Student health insurance

Cheapest F1 student health insurance

Students when they travel outside their home country to study along with the university academic experience also get an opportunity to experience a new culture and to see different parts of the world and meet new people with varied backgrounds. We work with several US insurance providers that offer excellent student F1 health insurance.

We have developed an excellent compare F1 visa student travel insurance tool and have article and FAQ's with information for the best travel insurance for f1 students studying abroad. Our international student insurance plan comparison facilities lists the student travel insurance that satisfies the student requirements.

Students can find the cheapest health insurance for international students in USA as well as outside the USA. Other than the cost, we also display relevant coverage details of health insurance for international students on F1 visa studying in the USA.

Get quotes for international student travel insurance!

Review and compare the best international student travel medical insurance.

Click here to read more »

Nationalities of large international student groups in the US


Expertise in offering travel insurance
20+ years!

Customers from
All U.S. states!

Customers from over
180 countries!