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Required Coverage Amount For International Students Medical Insurance Policy
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Written by: Ray Sondeo
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Word Count: 438 |
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 |
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Foreign nationals studying in the USA are required by the university to buy international students medical insurance. Often the guidelines provided by the university would include suggestions on what typically ought to be covered, what it would roughly cost and maybe even a list of standard insurers that may be approached.
Ray Sondeo often writes about international students insurance.
A number of policies in the market are tailored for the specific needs of international students medical insurance. Generally, they require students to buy a maximum coverage of $200,000 to $300,000 for every condition. Depending on your age, sex and state of health, you could choose your coverage.
In the absence of university guidelines, go over the policy with a fine-toothed comb. Hire an insurance expert and ask questions till you are sure that the international students insurance policy you are about to buy is what you need.
First, procure a list of the prices of the 25 most common procedures done in the state where you plan to study. This published list is mandatory in California, and other states have been asking for the same. The price list is indicative of the costs you might accrue for a particular medical condition or procedure.
For example, you might have to part with as much as $5000-$8000 for just an overnight hospital stay, everything else extra. An actual procedure, for an appendectomy, would touch $18,000; heart surgery would cost five times as much.
These costs would cover you alone. However, if you are male, and traveling with spouse or partner, pregnancy is a huge possibility. Every pre-natal appointment is in the vicinity of $200, excluding tests and medicine. An ultra sound test can go up to $1000. Pregnancy for a spouse has to be covered even before conception; this will ensure coverage for maternity and childcare, extra premium for c-section, no coverage for post-natal complications, in most cases.
Most international students medical insurance plans make a distinction between coverage for student and for spouse. Unmarried partners are not covered for birth, but may be, post marriage. Ideally, cover for pregnancy if there is even the remotest possibility that your partner will get pregnant; once pregnant there will be no pregnancy and childbirth coverage.
A prudent course of action is to insure yourself for about $500,000; more, if you have a partner. Do this after a careful study of the international student insurance plan. Treatment by doctors and hospitals on the network will make direct billing possible; hence you will be saved considerable financial strain. However, with out-of-network hospitals, track every single operating and non-operating expense in order to make accurate claims.
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