Study Abroad Advisor

Avoiding Collisions

Understanding Insurance for Study Abroad

By Ellen Struber

Policies for risk management and liability for students abroad vary widely from campus to campus. For instance, Paul DeYoung of Reed College, while acknowledging the potential risks involved in study abroad, thinks the most common reason colleges and universities require their students to purchase comprehensive major medical insurance policies is concern for institutional liability rather than student welfare. He raises two separate issues: first, the question of requiring students to purchase insurance vs. informing them of risks and options; and, second, the question of mandating comprehensive (and expensive) policies for all students which do not take into account the specific health care situations at the various program sites. Assuming you think your institution should be involved in more than an advisory role in health care insurance for students abroad, here are some of the major considerations:

Major Medical Insurance. Surprisingly, not all institutions require students to show proof of major medical insurance as a precondition to participating in programs abroad. The Univ. of Kansas requires that all students and their parents provide a signed, notarized statement demonstrating not only that they have major medical insurance but that they have read the provisions and conditions of their policy carefully and are satisfied that it will cover the student abroad.

Because we do not buy a group policy, our students have a wide variety of policies and coverages. Our position is that we are not insurance agents and we do not pretend to understand the many policies out there. When our students go on programs that provide medical insurance as part of the program benefits, we consider this requirement met.

Group Policies. There are of course many advantages in having all of your students covered as part of a group policy. Before taking bids from insurance companies consult with your office of risk management, university counsel, health services, colleagues, and your state’s insurance commissioner. If you are a public institution, laws may have to be changed or amended to allow you to purchase insurance.

Once you decide to purchase a group policy, John Fleming of OMA Limited says the minimum coverage to consider for medical evacuation is $50,000. Do not rely on standards established for international students in the U.S.

Another important provision in the group policy should be direct payment abroad, so that the student need not pay a costly hospital bill on site, then face the lengthy process of waiting for reimbursement. Some companies are better than others in providing clear and easy billing procedures and in making payments.

Emergency Insurance. Whether your institution provides a major medical group insurance policy or requires students to buy their own and show proof of it, make sure that the policy covers emergencies requiring medical evacuation or repatriation of remains. Many domestic policies do not. Almost as important as the cost is the kind of assistance available with the policy.

Verification/Waiver Issue. If institutions do not wish to buy their own group policies or force already-insured students to pay for yet more coverage, there is the option of having the students send a verification/waiver form to the insurance company authorizing the company to release information to the school certifying that the coverage is sufficient and valid abroad. The advantage of this approach is that students will not have to pay twice if they are already insured.

Resources. Very few campus advisers or program administrators are lawyers, insurance agents, or doctors. You should therefore be cautious about the kind and quality of advice you give in these areas. But it is essential to learn what you need to know in order to point your students and their parents toward the best sources of information.

However your institution approaches these issues, you can help your students by acquainting yourself with the resources available on campus and within professional circles. These include the institutional counsel, the office of risk management, local or nationwide insurance agents (many of whom come to NAFSA conferences), state insurance commissioners, as well as colleagues. In July of 1996, Ann L. Smith of Pennsylvania State Univ. summarized on the SECUSS-L discussion group 28 different institutional insurance policies. This overview can be retrieved from the SECUSS-L archives. Address your inquiry to: listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu; then choose Archives; then SECUSS-L; then July, 1996, to find the file.

Although we cannot control or be responsible for everything that happens to our students either here or abroad, we do need to know how to help them address the unexpected.

ELLEN STRUBER is Study Abroad Advisor at the Univ. of Kansas. For help with the article she thanks Mickey Hanzel Slind, Institute for Study Abroad; Paul DeYoung, Reed College; and John P. Fleming, OMA Limited.