Insurance is definitely an investment you need as an international student in the US. We’ll show you what it’s like to live in the United States as an international undergrad student, and focus a lot on health insurance.
I have been in the United States studying computer science at Texas Tech University, and in this series, I’ll teach you all you need to know before coming to the United States as an international student.
In today’s publication, we will discuss health insurance for international students and address many issues connected to health insurance, such as where to acquire a decent health insurance and what to remember before obtaining health insurance.
What are copays and deductibles in insurance?
Every international student, whether a graduate or undergraduate student, needs to have a good health insurance because health care in the United States is extremely expensive and health insurance is a must in this case.
Now one of the major questions that we get on our email is is it necessary to buy health insurance from a university? So, the answer to that is that in some cases yes and in some cases no. Some universities force you to take their own health care insurance, but in some cases, universities allow you to buy health insurance from a private provider.
In that case, I would recommend going ahead and buying the insurance from a private provider because the health insurance from the university is always going to be extremely expensive and a private provider will give you health insurance at a better price.
If you obtained the insurance from your institution, you will pay for it via the university payment portal, which is included in your tuition. If you took the insurance from a private supplier, you will, of course, pay the money privately.
How Do You Pay Your Health Insurance?
You may pay for the insurance once a year, in two installments, or in monthly installments. There are several options that you can pick from today.
What to Know Before Buying Health Insurance
What to remember before buying health insurance is if you’re buying health insurance from an external provider, make sure that the criteria are met. The criteria will be given to you by a university.
Now, before buying any health insurance, always check the treatments, illnesses, and services your health insurance covers.
The second aspect that you need to consider is if your health care is a copay or deductible health insurance.
What is copay?
Copay is just as the name suggests: 50 would be paid by you, and 50 would be paid by the health insurance company. The main difference between copay and deductible is that with a deductible, you have to hit a certain threshold before the insurance kicks in. Say you need to pay around a thousand dollars in your health care, then the health insurance will kick in. So, that’s the main difference between copay and deductible.
Is School Insurance Cheaper than a Third Party Provider?
So, our experience with health care insurance in the United States was that the university, that is Texas Tech University, would not allow you to buy health insurance from an outside provider because you didn’t meet their strict criteria.
So, because of that, you may be paying thousands of dollars just in health insurance, whereas another person who is in another university and is allowed to have a private provider for health care insurance pays less than half of what the school charged. So, that is how much of a difference buying health insurance from a private provider can make.
But let’s say you have some sort of test that is required by your university, you won’t have to pay a single dollar for it because it is covered through your health insurance, even though your health insurance was expensive. It will cover a lot of tests.
Tips to Help You Buy Health Insurance
- In the United States, most of the health care insurance providers do not offer dental care, so it is highly recommended to finish and cover all of your dental requirements back home.
- Bring all of your important medicines from back home with proper prescription from your doctor.
- If you can buy health care from outside of university, go ahead and buy health insurance from a private provider because you save a lot of money.
- You must have prescribed medications in the United States, so be sure when you bring medicines from your home country, they are prescribed, and carry the prescription with you when you go.
- When it comes to bringing medicines from your home country, make sure that you know which medicines you require on a daily basis, if not on a regular basis, so get them.
Conclusion
Sometimes, you might face some stomach upset issues depending on the weather and the food that you eat. Your stomach might just get upset as a reaction to new food. You may also have some sort of environmental reactiona. This is why you need this health insurance, at least to avoid paying expensively for treatment. Just make sure you have medicines for common sickness as well.
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