Choosing a Health-Insurance Plan
Many colleges and universities have their own health-insurance plans, often mandatory, for their students. If you are sponsored by an organization such as USAID or one of the Fulbright programs, that organization may have its own health-insurance policy. If health insurance is not provided, the international student office will be able to help you find a suitable plan. Your foreign-student adviser should have descriptive brochures from several insurance companies that offer health insurance specifically for students from overseas. Foreign-student advisers are not experts on health-insurance plans, however. You may have to choose from among several plans that vary in coverage and cost. Here are some of the things to look for:
The “premium”: the cost of coverage for the specified period of time
Exclusions for items such as maternity costs, mental-health care, and “pre-existing conditions”
Coverage of preventive care
Limits on the maximum payment the insurer will make
High “deductibles” (an annual amount you must pay before insurance payments begin)
High “co-payments” (that percentage of a bill for which you are responsible, even after you meet your deductible amount)
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