Whether you
are an international student, or someone who’s doing a summer exchange program
in the U.S., there’s nothing more important than having a safety net to fall
back on, especially when it comes to health insurance. Health care works
differently in some places than it does in the United States. In many
countries, health insurance can be obtained for very little to no cost all. For
private institutions such as Stanford University, students were charged close
to $5,592 for the 2019-2020 academic year for its student health insurance. For
many international students, it is compulsory for them to pay this fee in order
to enroll in classes.

For those
who are allowed the flexibility in selecting a health care plan, most students
seek plans that are affordable, yet can meet their school’s waiver
requirements. Most schools in the U.S. have specific waiver requirements, such
as specific coverage for lifetime maximum, deductible and/or co-payment.
Services such pre-existing condition and wellness and preventative care
coverage might make the plan more appealing, yet it also makes the premium a
lot higher. To most international students, they come to the U.S. with one goal
in mind—to obtain knowledge. Therefore, if they need to pay extra for services
that go way beyond their needs, it only becomes another financial burden for
them and their family.

Service vs. Cost

According to
the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing report, students spend up to
$9,000 for room and board, $1,200 on books and supplies, $2,000 on personal
expenses and $1,000 on transportation on an annual basis. These fees are solely
for cost of living and do not include the actual tuition. Sri Charan, who
attends the University of South Florida, said living expenses can cost up to
$1500 per month for him. Therefore, when faced with a $2000 charge for health
insurance from his school, he described that as being “really pricey” for an
international student. Therefore, any additional fee for students, especially
students from abroad, can seem like an extraneous expense that they might not
be able to afford.

 As a result, most international students want to
find a balance between cost and coverage when it comes to health insurance,
since few of them go to doctors on a regular basis and even fewer require
supplementary services such as intercollegiate sports. Furthermore, many
international students do not seek treatments unless it becomes a case of
emergency Dorian from Kutztown University said, “I want an insurance that
covers me for big problems, just to be sure that I do not have to spend
thousands of dollars in case of emergency.”

Mandatory school plans

Currently, a
big problem that many international students are facing is not being able to
waive out of their school’s health care plan, since some schools have strict
waiver requirements. Some students must meet one of the following requirements
to waive out of their school’s plan—government sponsored, employer sponsored or
covered under the parents’ insurance plan—which is hard to achieve for
international students. With these tight restrictions, one can’t help but raise
the question of why is it that schools are pushing students into their health
insurance plans?  The answer:
convenience. According to the director of ISSO (International Student Services
Office) for Oakland University, he labels it as: “… a huge hassle for the
school when students have multiple [insurance] plans.”

What do students really seek for?

Therefore,
unlike their U.S. classmates, many international students do not have the
option to opt out of the school’s plan. According to Dorian, “The price, if the
plan meets the school requirements, and if it covers serious problems,” is what
he is looking for in an insurance plan. Similar to Dorian, most international
students are not seeking for comprehensive plans like the ones they may have in
their home country. Instead, they want a plan with medium coverage at a cost
that they can afford.

Fortunately,
companies such as ISO Health Insurance, is working with universities across the
country to create plans that will not only meet their requirements, but also
make them more affordable. Laura from University of South Florida said, “My
school recommended ISO to me, and I haven’t had any problems when I went for
treatments.” She then added, “It’s really easy for me!” There is nothing more
important than staying healthy when you are abroad. With ISO International
Student Health Insurance, students are able to have affordable health care
plans that will meet there school’s unique requirements.