Health Insurance
Information for International Students
Health care in the United States is probably very different from health care
in your own country. The United States has no national health program, and
health care is very expensive. Your student health fee will give you access to
the Clark Health Services on campus, but will not cover other services. If you
have health insurance coverage from your home country, please be sure to bring
complete documentation to show you have comparable coverage. If your policy does
not meet the required coverage, you can purchase Clark's Student Health
Insurance Plan. You are required to have health insurance to cover more
extensive health care, such as emergency treatment, hospital stays or visits to
a specialist, x-rays, prescription medicine or laboratory tests. This health
insurance will protect you from economic hardship if you have sudden expenses
for medical care. International students will need a new prescription from a
U.S. doctor in order to purchase medication in the U.S. Some medications
available in your home country may not be available in the U.S. All students
must be immunized in accordance with Massachusetts law. If you cannot get
certain immunizations in your country, please explain this situation when you
return your immunization forms. You will not be allowed to register for classes
until you are properly immunized according to state law.
Please check with your hosting department at Clark to see if you will be
eligible for Clark benefits. If not, you will have to purchase health insurance.
Listed below are a few companies that offer health insurance for international
scholars in the United States.
Plans are subject to change.
Individuals who hold J-1 Exchange Visitor Status must have health
insurance that meets the following minimum federal requirements:
The policy must provide "medical benefits of at least $50,000 for
each accident or illness", according to the text of the regulations.
Since insurance companies cover no more than the policy-holder's
expense (minus a deductible and, under co-insurance, a percentage),
and never provide a minimum amount for each accident or illness, the
quoted text should be worded differently. Presumably it was intended
to mean that an acceptable policy cannot set a maximum lower than
$50,000 in benefits for each accident or illness.
If you should die in the United States, the policy must provide
at least $7,500 in benefits to send your remains to your home
country for burial.
If, because of a serious illness or injury, you must be sent home
on the advice of a doctor, the policy must pay up to $10,000 for the
expenses of your travel (medical evacuation).
The policy may establish a waiting period before it covers
pre-existing conditions (health problems you had before you bought
the insurance), as long as the waiting period is reasonable by
current standards in the insurance industry.
A deductible not to exceed $500 per accident or illness.
Pregnancy expenses will be covered on the same basis as illness.
The policy must be backed by the full faith and credit of your
home country government or the company providing the insurance must
meet minimum rating requirements established by the U.S. Department
of State (an A.M. Best rating for "A-" or above, an Insurance
Solvency International, Ltd. (ISI) rating of "A-I" or above, a
Standard & Poor's Claims-paying Ability rating of "A-" or above, or
a Weiss Research, Inc. rating of "B+" or above).
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